Opinion - Urban Splash

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Urban Splash wants young architects, and believes competition is the best way to get them, says Jonathan Falkingham.

Urban Splash holds design competitions as a matter of course. This is a method many other developers are scared of. Competitions can be costly and time-consuming; they are challenging and risky. Others might prefer to work to a formula to make the process less risky, but we believe strongly in competitions because we want good architecture – and competitions are a great way of getting it.

Our first open competition was held in 1999 to find an architect for our first newbuild scheme, Timber Wharf in Manchester. The competition was chaired by Richard Rogers and attracted 162 entries. It was won by Glenn Howells Architects, a practice shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in 2006. Urban Splash has since held 10 further open competitions, to find architects for schemes at New Islington, Manchester; Morecambe; Walsall; Runcorn; Springfield Lane, Salford; and Birnbeck Island, Westonsuper- Mare. In the next few months we'll be launching competitions for Walsall and Northshore at Stockton-on-Tees.

Glen Howells' Timber Wharf, Manchester (2002) was won in Urban Splashe's first open competition.

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Now we've teamed up with the AJ to launch a competition to find architects under 35 years old to design a £500,000 Infobox at our Tribeca scheme in Liverpool (see page 14). We want to be challenged! I think most architects respond differently to a client's brief in a competition format, as a competition implies a search for new thinking. We might only select one architect, but you don't get just one idea, you get many.

The judging process is also extremely important to us. For example, successful regeneration is achieved through partnership. We work with many stakeholders, and always try to make sure they are represented on the judging panel. This has proved to be a good way of getting all partners engaged in the development at the earliest stage.

At the end of judging, a decision is made collectively, with all stakeholders having had the opportunity to express and discuss their views. This early buy-in is the first step in a long-term working partnership.

Competitions also provide very good PR for a project. Most of our projects are in areas where there is no established market; to create that market we have to change perceptions about the future. A competition is a great start; it gets debate going and raises profile. The publicity competitions attract acts as a fantastic early marketing campaign. Through exhibiting entries, we make a clear statement
about our aspirations.

And competitions are a perfect vehicle for finding up-and-coming talent. Many of our competitions are open to all architects young and old. The best ideas win the day. We are particularly pleased to be working with the AJ on our young architect competition, which we think will provide a great opportunity for a young practitioner to get their first commission and see something built.