The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) are pleased to announce the

Call for Submissions for the
2010 National Urban Design Awards

Urban design plays an important role in maintaining and enhancing the quality of life in Canadian cities.

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects in cooperation with Canadian municipalities, wish to promote public and private awareness of that role. For this reason, an Urban Design Awards program has been established to recognize individuals, organizations, firms and projects that have contributed to the quality of life in our Canadian cities and their sustainability.

Categories

There are six different categories of urban design projects. One award will be bestowed for each category.

Urban Design Plans

This category of Award will recognize a plan or a study of a significant area within a Canadian municipality that provides a development or redevelopment strategy for urban transformation in the mid-term to long-term. Urban Design studies, master plans, redevelopment strategies, and community plans of high inspirational value with the potential for significant impact on the city’s sustainability or development may be submitted.

Eligibility: The plan or study must have been completed after January 1, 2003.

Criteria for Award:
The primary criteria for assessing the merit of the plan will be:

• comprehensiveness – addressing a wide a range of factors affecting development including energy efficiency and other environmental factors
• innovative approach – proposals that highlight new ideas and/or approaches to interventions in the city
• clarity of presentation – understandable, readable and well-illustrated graphically

Urban Architecture

This category of Award will recognize a building or group of buildings that contribute to, and support, an urban design initiative. The submission may be for an individual building or group of buildings, of high architectural standard, which achieve urban design excellence through their unique relationship with their immediate surroundings because of siting, massing, and pedestrian amenities. The building(s) will also contribute to defining a special relationship with the neighbouring urban fabric.

Eligibility: A new building, a renovated building, or complex of buildings completed after January 1, 2003 within the boundaries of a Canadian municipality, and designed by an architect. Special consideration will be given to buildings that also achieve, or are capable of achieving, a green building rating (such as LEED^® or BREEAM). This category is open only to registered architects. A license number and/or proof of registration is required.

Criteria for Award:
The primary criteria for assessing the merit of the plan will be:

• compatibility with the urban initiative
• positive contribution to the public realm
• architectural excellence
• demonstration of the value of urban design – how the urban design plan directed and influenced the building

Civic Design Projects

This category of Award will recognize a civic improvement project such as a park, a public space, civil engineering or environmental infrastructure, street furniture and lighting elements, etc. which have been implemented as the result of an urban design plan or initiative.

Eligibility: A construction project completed or installed after January 1, 2003 within the boundaries of a Canadian municipality, and designed by an architect, landscape architect, a registered planner, or an engineer. This category is open to registered design professionals (architects, engineers and landscape architects). A license number and/or proof of registration is required.

Criteria for Award:
The primary criteria for assessing the merit of the plan will be:

• compatibility with the urban plan
• positive contribution to the public realm
• design excellence
• demonstration of the value of urban design – how the urban design plan/initiative directed and influenced the space or the objects.

Urban Fragments

Urban fragments are single, small-scale pieces of a building or landscape that contribute significantly to the quality of the public realm. This category includes small and modest elements such as street furniture, lighting elements, interpretation media, memorials, public art, or other forms of intervention that contribute to the beautification, sustainability, enjoyment, and/or appreciation of the urban environment. Projects can be of a temporary (but not ephemeral) or permanent nature but installed after January 1, 2003.

Criteria for Award:
The primary criteria for assessing the proposals will be:

• positive contribution to the public realm
• design excellence
• innovation and uniqueness of the element

Community Improvement Projects

This category is for any built project, however modest, initiated and implemented by a community-based organization that enhances the public realm. Streetscaping, public art, commemorative or interpretive installations, and environmental initiatives are examples of this category.

Eligibility: The improvement must have been completed after January 1, 2003.

Criteria for Award:
The primary criteria for assessing the merit of the plan will be:

• wide community involvement – demonstration of how the community-at-large was involved and supported the improvements
• positive contribution to the public realm
• conceptual clarity and execution of the improvement
• innovation and uniqueness of the built project

Student Projects

The Student Projects category will be administered through participating Canadian Universities, programs in architecture, landscape architecture, and/or urban planning.  Each school may forward submissions for each of the following categories:

• A submission from a structured Urban Design studio;
• A submission as a result of a final project or an individual thesis.

Note: The entry fee does not apply to Students Projects.

Special Jury Awards

In 2010, there will be two special jury awards selected from the submissions received.

• Sustainable Development Award: the project, from within any of the categories, that the jury deems best demonstrates the principles of urban sustainable development while also exemplifying sensitive urban design.
  
  
• Small or Medium Community Urban Design Award: a project, from within any of the categories, and situated in an urban centre of less than 500 000 inhabitants, that demonstrates the value of urban design in a mid size community.

Eligibility

1. Municipalities with a local urban awards program (tier 1) will automatically submit winners of their programs in 2009 to the National Urban Design Awards Program.
   
   

   Any project within the municipal boundaries of a municipality that has
   a local urban design awards program may be submitted in its appropriate category, if it was NOT submitted to the local program of the municipality in which it was conceived/built. Such a project will be adjudicated as part of the process described in article 2.

2. Submissions at large:
   
   Any individual or organization in any Canadian urban municipality can submit a project subject to the proviso described in article (1) of Eligibility. The submission must be in conformance with the submission requirements. The best submission in each category will be considered together with the winning projects from the local Urban Design Awards programs in the adjudication of the medals.
   
   

   Certificates of Merit will be awarded at the jury‘s discretion.

There will be only one award (medal) in each category except the “Urban Design Plans” in which the Jury may select two projects having significantly different characteristics. The award will be selected by the jury from:

• the winners in the local urban design awards program, and
• the category winners selected from all other submissions.

Format

Each entry is to be submitted in a standard black, three-ring binder, accepting sheets measuring 8-1/2 inches by 11 inches. Illustrations up to 11 inches by 17 inches (folded to conform to 8-1/2 inches by 11 inches format) will be accepted. Please ensure that all forms are completed in their entirety.

Entries can be submitted either in English or in French.

The material must be included in the binder in the following order:

• Entry Fee
• Participation Identification Form
• Project Presentation (maximum of 25 pages)
• Publication Release Form
• Disclaimer and Declaration Form
• List of Illustrations (Index)
• Electronic images on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM

Please refer to the Checklist [74 KB].

Illustrations

Illustrations must be included digitally on two (2) duplicate PC-compatible CDs or DVDs to be inserted in a plastic sleeve or sleeves at the back of the binder. CDs or DVDs must be labeled with the project name.

Each illustration must be saved in a high resolution version for publication purposes.

Electronic illustrations must comply with the following specifications:

• Only JPEG image-format saved at high-quality/low-compression setting are acceptable. Low-quality/high-compression JPEGs will not be accepted.
  
  
• High resolution images must be 300 dpi, and approximately 10.5" x 14" (3150 x 4200 pixels).
  
  
• All illustrations should be in RGB color mode (CMYK will not be accepted).
  
  
• All file names are composed of a number followed by a title. Only single digit numbers must start with zero "0" (ex.: "01title.jpg"… "09title.jpg", "10title.jpg"). Do not use punctuation or symbols in the titles.
  
  
• Compressed archive files (.zip, .sit) will not be accepted.

Submission Date and Receipt

Entry forms and binders must be received before 4:00 PM, February 11, 2010.

All submissions must be sent to:

Architecture Canada
Attention: 2010 National Urban Design Awards
330 – 55 Murray Street
Ottawa, ON
K1N 5M3

Submission Forms

Entry Fee

An entry fee must accompany each submission that is not from a municipally administered local urban design awards program.

• $183.75 (tax included), or
• $197.53 (tax included for QC residents); or
• $197.75 (tax included for NS, NB and NF residents).

A cheque payable to The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada must
accompany each entry.

Jury

A Jury will adjudicate all categories of awards. The Jury members are:

• Vincent Asselin, FCSLA (Montreal)
• Nigel Baldwin, FRAIC (Vancouver)
• Don Hester, FCSLA, MCIP (Winnipeg)
  

The Professional Advisor is Emilie Adin, City Planner, North Vancouver.

Notification

Recipients will be notified the week of February 22, 2010. All submissions become the property of the RAIC/CIP/CSLA. Submission materials will not be returned.

All recipients of winning submissions must produce two display panels. The panels must be delivered to the RAIC by April 5, 2010. All panels must be made from 1/2” thick gatorboard, 20” x 20” in size. Detailed specifications will be provided to all medalists.

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Canadian Institute of Planners, and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects must be included in all media/newspaper releases and announcements regarding the medal
by winning candidates.

Questions and Answers

Q1.  I am preparing a submission for the RAIC, CIP, CSLA National Urban Design Awards and wanted to double check the maximum length of the submission. I have been informed that the Project Presentation component of the presentation is not to exceed 25 pages. I assume this excludes the Participation Identification Form etc., but I wanted to double check that and to see if there is any flexibility in terms of the length for the project presentation.

A1.  Yes, the 25 pages of supporting material excludes the required forms listed on the checklist.

Q2.  On your website for the Urban Design Awards under "Format" it says to submit material in the order listed and to refer to the "Checklist" sheet provided. But, on the checklist sheet it says to submit the material in a different order. Which order should I follow, the one listed under the heading "Format" or the one listed on the "Checklist"?

A2.  Please follow the order on the Checklist.

Q3.  We are currently preparing our entry for the 2010 National Urban Design Awards. As a municipal government agency/department our accounting department requires a GST number in order to process the entry fee. I was unable to locate the GST number on the website. Can you please provide the GST number to both email addresses shown in order for the entry cheque to be issued?

A3.  Our GST number is 12218 1720 RT0001.

Q4.  I am wondering if I can submit my master's thesis for the student projects entry (I finished my masters this summer 09). Also, does the school have to submit my thesis or may I submit it myself?

A4.  Your thesis would be eligible. Student Projects are administered through participating schools and must be submitted by the school.

Q5.  On the website, under 'Format', the third bullet indicates that a Project Presentation with a maximum of 25 pages must be submitted, however this is not referenced anywhere else on the checklist or the information provided. I am assuming it is in error and should be replaced with the summary sheet and descriptive data sheet.

A5.  In the Checklist under Supporting Material, it should read up to 25 pages and not 10 pages. Therefore, your submission should include all forms listed in the checklist and up to 25 pages of supporting material.

Q6.  In the Format section of the RAIC call for submissions page it is noted that the material in the binder must include: "Project Presentation (maximum of 25 pages)".

On page two of the PDF checklist it is noted that we should submit:

"A maximum of ten (10) illustrations that are labeled with number and described on the List of Illustrations (Index) form provided. All illustrations become the property of the RAIC."

Should we interpret this to mean that we are allowed to submit 25 pages of graphic material and (separately) the 10 most relevant illustrations?

A6.  The binder submission should include the required forms and a total of 25 pages of supporting materials such as text, images, graphics, plans, etc. The 10 images which can form part of the 25 pages must be saved on two CD-ROMS.

Q7.  I am interested in seeing that an urban design plan that was developed for a municipality in BC be submitted for national recognition. The plan was submitted this year to PIBC and won an award. Can you tell me if that plan would automatically be forwarded to our National office (CIP) for consideration, or are we required to make a separate and direct submission to qualify for this juried assessment?

A7.  You are required to prepare a separate and direct submission. Only submissions that have won a local urban design award will be automatically submitted by the municipality.

Q8.  Our urban design plan was developed in an 11 x 17 format, but to reduce it to an 8.5 x 11 (as per the submission guidelines) would render the document undecipherable, and therefore, not at all compelling. Is there a way to apply for a variance to the guidelines?

A8.  My only recommendation would be to use a landscape format and create a two page 8.5 x 11 layout spread of the 11x17 pages. The submission documentation must be presented in a binder that holds 8.5 x 11 pages.

See the National Urban Design Awards - Eligibility Criteria.

Q9.  Under your submission guidelines for this award we are asked to submit our project in a black 3 ring binder. Is this mandatory? Our firm tries to limit usage of all PVC materials as they fall on our precautionary materials list due to the negative environmental and health effects (including noxious off gassing!). Would it be inappropriate to submit in a more environmentally responsible binder?

A9.  An environmentally responsible binder will be accepted, we ask that you please follow the format of 8.5 x 11 inch sheets listed in the instructions.

Q10.  Is there a limit to the number of projects that the School of Architecture of Université de Montréal can submit (for example, one thesis project + one specialized workshop project)?

A10.  There is no set limit on the number of student projects that a university can submit, provided each project originates with a given course. For example, two different design workshops could each submit a project. There have been occasions in the past when we accepted ex aequo projects because the university said that it was unable to choose one project over the other.

Q11.  Is it the School of Architecture or the students themselves who send their binders to the RAIC?

A11.  The School of Architecture must forward the binders.

Q12.  Are the rules regarding presentation and format the same as those that apply to the binders of professionals?

A12.  Yes.

Q13.  Thesis projects for which academic year, 2008–2009 or 2009–2010, are eligible? If the former, we no longer have the plates, nor necessarily the students’ contact information; if the latter, since students can choose to complete their final project in either the fall or the winter, only part of the cohort is eligible.

A13.  Thesis projects for both 2008–2009 and 2009–2010 fall within the two-year cycle that follows on the 2008 awards program, and are therefore eligible. Any projects submitted must meet the submission criteria.

Q14.  I am coordinating the winning submissions from the City of Calgary Mayor’s Urban Design Awards (MUDA) for automatic entry for the RAIC awards. The categories for MUDA included winning submissions for both a Conceptual/Theoretical Urban Design Plan and an Approved/Adopted Urban Design Plan. Both of our winners meet the criteria for the RAIC category of Urban Design Plans. Would both of our winners be accepted for that category as automatic submissions from the municipality?

A14.  Yes, both recipients would be accepted.

Q15.  I’ve graduated from a landscape architecture program in June 2009 at the University of Toronto. I would like to submit my thesis project for this award. Do I have to send it through the school and am I entitled to waive the fee?

A15.  All submissions for the Student Category must be supported and sent by the school.

Q16.  Can a thesis project completed during school be submitted under the Urban Design Plans category if it was completed a few years ago? And is consistent with the other requirements in the category?

A16.  The Student Projects category will be administered through participating Canadian Universities, programs in architecture, landscape architecture, and/or urban planning. Each school may forward one submission for each of the following categories:

• A submission from structured Urban Design studio;
• A submission as a result of an individual thesis.

Please contact your professor or school to review your thesis for eligibility and for submission.

Q17.  Do I correctly understand that the award for student projects is strictly an honorary one (i.e., that no money is awarded with it)?

A17.  Yes, it is strictly an honorary award. The recipients will be presented with a medal at the awards ceremony. They will also receive exposure when the three associations announce the medal recipients in their newsletters, on their websites, and in media releases.

Q18. Our firm ran its own urban design awards program.  Would the design proposals that won awards or the design awards program itself be eligible for a National Urban Design Award?

A18. They would not be eligible at this time.  We could consider future opportunities for categories such as “urban design planning” or “urban design initiatives” in future years.

Q19. The terms of reference state that this category, Community Improvement Projects Category is open to community-based organizations. Does this include municipalities?

A19. We have no definition of a community-based organization in our Call for Awards Applications, but they are typically defined elsewhere as non-profit, non-governmental organizations. Examples of community-based organizations are given on Wikipedia as, “amateur sports clubs, school groups, church groups, youth groups and community support groups.”

If the City of Victoria had any community partners (such as residents associations, business improvement associations, etc.) involved in your urban design project, I would urge you to have them apply as the main applicant for the awards in order avoid disqualification of your award proposal.

At the close of the 2010 urban design awards process, I have the opportunity as the Professional Advisor to the program to write a report to summarize my recommendations on how to improve the awards program.  I plan to recommend that the eligibility criteria for the Community Improvement Projects category be expanded to include projects led by and implemented by local governments as well as by community-based organizations.  If this recommendation has influence in future calls, you may have an opportunity in future to apply for an award in this category.

Alternately, you may wish to consider applying for this year’s awards program under the category “Civic Design Projects” instead of under the category “Community Improvement Projects.”

Amendments

These terms and conditions may be amended from time to time by the RAIC/CIP/CSLA, in their sole discretion. Notification of any amendment to these terms and conditions shall be deemed to have been given to the Applicant, by 10:00 a.m. on the first business day after publication of the amended terms and conditions on the web site of the RAIC/CIP/CSLA, which is presently accessed through www.raic.org

For more information