ABSTRACT
Competitions are regarded within the architectural world almost as motherhood and apple pie issues, concepts that nobody could reasonably question, presented as good deeds in an unkind world. Open and anonymous architectural design competitions are often seen as a hot bed of architectural innovation, a field in which new ideas are tested and investigated and within which architecture can be explored for the sake of architecture. In contrast to continental Europe, where design competitions as a procurement method for architecture projects are routinely employed, Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) procedures are a commonly used procurement tool in the United Kingdom. Two-stage OJEU processes with no concise brief or schedule of accommodation in stage two, and in particular those where the delivery of a 'design' is neither encouraged nor discouraged, are in that respect less desirable to architects.
