Design competition guidelines
The City of Melbourne has developed Design Competition Guidelines that provide practical, consistent, clear and fair advice on how to plan, deliver and participate in voluntary design competitions.
Endorsed by the Future Melbourne Committee in December 2023, the guidelines aim to strengthen industry collaboration toward a common goal of design excellence, and to improve the quality of public and private development in the municipality.
The guidelines encourage the use of Council-endorsed competitions on significant sites and projects for public and private developments, where Council is the responsible planning authority.
Council officers are reviewing potential City of Melbourne projects for the first design competitions to be considered in mid to late 2024.
The guidelines will be available to download soon.
What is a design competition?
A Design Competition is an alternative procurement strategy in which a private or public site owner or developer invites designers to submit a design proposal for a precinct, site or building. An independent panel of design professionals then selects the successful design based on an agreed set of evaluation criteria.
What are the benefits of design competitions?
Well-managed and equitable design competitions will lift the quality of Melbourne’s built environment and strengthen the design talent pool, providing opportunities for local, established, emerging and small practices to participate in private and public city shaping projects.
Design competitions will enhance a culture of design excellence across the city, and encourage an innovative, architecturally diverse design of new buildings, landscapes and public spaces across the city.
The benefits of council-endorsed design competitions include:
- increased likelihood of design excellence due to the establishment of aligned planning, design and commercial objectives prior to a planning application
- alignment of public and private interests
- a clearly defined, fair and ethical process
- a process that nurtures local, small and emerging design talent
- potential development uplift as a result of better design
- early access to City of Melbourne design and technical experts
