To be accepted in the competition as a “Matador Architect” is it acceptable to use as a reference a building, fulfilling the criteria of size and function, that is near completion but not delivered yet?
Yes, this is possible. A building that is nearing its completion will be considered as a reference. However, a project with only planning and design stage over, which is just about to begin to be executed, will not be considered as a valid reference.
Which competences are required for our team? Do we need a local architect, a landscaper? Would it help us to be selected?
Required are those who bring in the ideas and quality to the core of your designs. The issues of local architects, engineers, legal specialists, etc. will be dealt with later. The jury will now look for quality architecture and not for a list of professions. However, if there is on your team a landscape architect or an innovative engineer etc., who are integral part of your creative design work, it is no fault to state their names, of course.
Are we allowed to present our entry as a group with another architectural office?
Yes, it is possible. Please see point 4.1 that states “The competition may be entered by any individuals or entities, separately or in association […].”
What do you mean by a “non-monofunctional type” building?
A non-monofunctional type of building hosts more than one function. (It is not e.g. just a logistics centre, warehouse, production hall, etc.; it is e.g. commercial centre with offices, convention centres, mixed-use development, etc.)
What is the scope of services (concept design, design development, schematic design, detailed design, site management, etc.,) to be provided by the team selected?
This will be described in the documentation of the First round. It is expected, however, that the selected team will provide a full scope of services up to an issued certificate of occupancy. The project of the interior might be commissioned separately.
Can individuals submit projects that they have done in their employment to meet the criteria of pre-qualification portfolio?
Yes, they can. However, the portfolio should only contain projects, where you are the author of design. Also, we would strongly suggest that you ask for permission to do so from your employer. See also Question 3
Is it acceptable for architects who are working as employees to submit their pre-qualification as individuals and participate with their own name and not through the company they work for?
This is probably an issue you need to work out with your employer. Regarding this issue from our side, it is mainly important that you are fully competent and able to enter into legal contract and deliver all the services that the announcer expects.
Are the citizens of candidate countries to EEA, such as Turkey, eligible to enter this competition?
If you are not citizens or your practice is not registered in EEA or Switzerland, we would suggest that you team up with architects that fulfil this criteria, and enter this competition together in association.
Can unifying graphic style be used also for the cover page and motivation letter page, or should these pages contain text only?
A unifying graphic style could be used for the whole portfolio.
Could you please explain, how it is expected to fill in the point 1.2 of the contract?
Contractor = name of the architectural firm
With its registered office at = address of the architectural firm
Acting by = representative of the architectural firm
ID No = in Czech it is IČO, meaning Taxpayer Identification Number
Banking details = account holder’s name, IBAN, SWIFT/BIC code
Entered in = date
It states the 5th page is a presentation of the participant’s team and list of the presented projects including the most important persons or entities involved, such as investor, general contractor, author of design, etc.
Could you please clarify, if the 5th page is dedicated to the team from the architecture practice, or whether it is to be a list of projects with details of the projects including the client, contractor etc.? Should this be presented as CVs for individual team members with a list of previous projects?
The 5th page should include both things, as it is stated: introduction of your team (could be short bios, mentions of other important projects, awards won, etc.) and basic details of the projects that are presented in the portfolio (such as investor, general contractor, author of design, etc.). These details, if included in the project presentations on previous pages (2-4), don’t need to be repeated here.
The information on how many and which projects to include in the portfolio of an Emerging Professional appears three times on the web (in About the Competition, and in points 4.2 and 6.1 of the regulations) and seems to differ each time. Could you clarify?
Please, follow closely the point 6.1 of the Competition Regulations. To put it simple, a portfolio will contain three reference projects. The Matador Architects will present projects following points 4.2 a), b) and c). The Emerging Professionals will present projects following either points 4.2 b), b) and c), or points 4.2 b), c) and c).
Can you elaborate more on the expected terms of the contract for the winning team on the client’s end?
Contract terms will be specified for the 15 invited architects in the First round, nevertheless in the Second round of the competition, they will become subject of negotiation with selected architects.
Is there currently financing in place for the project?
Česká spořitelna is the biggest bank in the Czech Republic, so the financing of this project is supposed to be secured from internal sources.
What are the estimated construction costs?
Estimated construction costs can be figured out on the basis of the size of the building (75,000 sqm of gross floor space + underground parking) and dedicated use as the headquarters of the bank. Standard Central European construction costs per sqm of the space can be used, e.g. on the level of Vienna, Berlin or Munich.
The deadline is midnight CET on 16th October 2017 – does this mean midnight at the start of that day, or midnight at the end of that day?
It means midnight at the end of the day. In other words, the very last minute of 16th October 2017 in Prague, Czech Republic.
The 6th–last page of the portfolio should contain scan of the contract for work for design proposal for the First round signed by the participant. The attached Contract is 7 A4 pages long. Does the Announcer expect us to attach all of the 7 pages or to shrink them to 1 A3 horizontal format – it might not be easy to read that way.
A real-size scan is preferable, which could mean that the contract would take 4 pages of the portfolio. However, no matter how many pages would the scanned contract take, the page limit is clear about the first five pages of the portfolio and then the scan is up to you.
The motivation letter states that we cannot include sketches or drawings in that section. Are we able to include photos of our other projects?
The referential photos of your other projects can be included. The main objective of banning the sketches and drawings is for you to not do any design work yet, for no fee.
Can the projects, on which I worked as head architect in other offices, be included in my portfolio? Given that I have official approval to use them as a reference from these offices.
Yes, they can be included. Important is that you worked on the design portion of them.
Are the architectural practices within the UK eligible to enter this competition?
Yes, they are.
Should we compete as a team (architects + engineers) or should we compete as architectural office alone at first and add engineers as subcontractors later?
You should compete as architectural office – the quality and potential of architectural office, respectively quality of architectural and urban design is judged in the competition stage of the CSHQ project. Engineering will be dealt with after the competition.