Design versus Economy: on Prequalification in Developer Competitions

This paper presents results from a research project studying prequalification for restricted developer competitions aimed at housing in Sweden. The methodology includes an inventory of competitions, case studies, document reviews, and interviews with members in the organizers’ selection committees. The case studies comprise three restricted developer competitions in Danderyd, Nacka, and Trelleborg organized by the respective municipalities. The design teams are selected by prequalification in restricted competition. The organizer starts prequalification by inviting candidates to the competition. The organizer’s invitation contains a short description of the competition task, the aim of the competition and the conditions, submission requirements, and criteria for the evaluation of applications. The essential demands are general and based on Swedish law on public procurement. The evaluation criteria are experience-based and reflect professional merits for the competition. The three developer competitions generated a total of sixteen applications from candidates, teams of constructors, and developers in cooperation with architect firms. The lead applicant was the constructor or developer – not the architect firm. Eleven design teams were invited to the developer competitions after prequalification. Winners in developer competitions receive building permits and can implement their proposal, either by purchasing the land or acquiring the leasehold. Building costs (economy) and design quality (aesthetics) are key factors for organizers. The invited teams generally take part in the developer competitions at their own expense. This was the case for two of the competitions studied here, while in one the invited teams each received 50,000 SEK for their design proposals, which is very low compensation for design proposals as compared with architecture competitions.