What are juries REALLY looking for in Awards entries?
Have you ever tried to distil and define the characteristics that juries are looking for in Awards entries?
The 2019 National Jury
Or wondered how you can emphasise those qualities in your entry submissions?
I’ve conducted some research into what various architecture juries have been seeking in entries in recent years, and the results may surprise you.
In short, these qualities can be summarised as:
A return to ancient principals, as defined by Vitruvius
Sustainability and public benefit
A ripple effect that goes beyond the project; and
In the case of residential projects, homes and apartments that are “truly Australian”.
These attributes have appeared in jury discussions, debriefs and press releases in recent years, and they sit alongside the stated criteria for each program.
For instance, the Institute has an eight-point criteria list that you need to respond to in just 500 words, and the HOUSES awards pose a different set of questions to the Sustainability Awards and the INDE.Awards, and on it goes.
It’s enough to put you off entering at all, but the power of Awards to attract attention to your projects and practice is undeniable.
For some architecture firms, entering Awards is the major communications and marketing activity (and investment!) of the year.
So how can you distil the essence of your project - which might have taken more than two years from conception through design to delivery - into coherent and accessible responses?
Responses that take into account these broader jury aims AND the specific program criteria?
That’s one of the key takeaways of my CPD Awards workshop: How to turn your Awards entries into marketing gold.
It contains an Awards blueprint for you to complete during and after the training, that becomes the basis of all your awards entries and marketing campaigns to roll-out later in the year.
And once you have this simple system down-pat, you can apply it next year, and the year after.
And the communications objectives are applicable to your broader practice communications too.
You can purchase the workshop here to transform your Awards entries so they work harder for your business and are aligned with your business development goals.