How knowledge from innovation competitions can advance sustainable innovation targets in architectural design competitions

Abstract

Modern interpretations of sustainable building design are founded upon innovative application of new products and technology, often for the first time. Such examples are at the forefront of the ‘prototype’ nature of buildings that result from both design and technological innovations. Architectural design competitions are the primary competition in the construction industry, primarily concerned with design innovation, and are a popular procurement method for large public projects. Although such conceptual competitions often lack the physical dimension such as prototyping, they have been shown to be very effective in generating project specific radical designs. More broadly industry-based contests can be used to trigger research and knowledge creation, as well as investment in industry, with the competition rules and judging criteria critical to directing the entrants towards radical designs and technological solutions. The limitation of architectural design competitions to design criteria is limiting to the advancement of functional, performance criteria in the industry. This lack of emphasis is restricting the application of innovative sustainable solutions in the building industry through such competitions. This research demonstrates how knowledge from innovation contests in other industries can benefit the application of sustainable innovation and technology in architectural design competitions. This can be achieved primarily from a modification to the design of the competition environment, including scope and judging criteria and expected degree of resolution. The results of this study show that a design competition with a comprehensive scope and demonstrable outputs are more likely to result in more focussed sustainable innovation solutions.