Guidelines for National Jury Judging – Virtual Site Visit

The Institute acknowledges that the Government restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 are continuing to impact the everyday lives of our members. Due to these restrictions it has been necessary for the Institute to revise the process of National judging for the 2020 National Architecture Awards. From the projects that have advanced to National judging, the National Jury have undertaken their initial deliberations. A list of projects to be visited on the National Jury Tour has been finalised and the jury tour was planned for 27 July to 7 August. The current restrictions relating to State/Territory borders have made it impossible to move the jury across all borders to undertake the 2020 National Jury Tour. The National Jury, being unable to undertake physical site visits will instead conduct virtual site visits as part of the judging process. This process has been outlined below.

Virtual site visits via Zoom

The Institute will organise a Zoom call between the National Jury and the projects on the site visit list. We ask that the Architect or representative be onsite during the scheduled Zoom call, to virtually show the National Jury around the project. The Zoom call is primarily for the jury to ask questions of the architect to help explain and clarify the project. For the first half of the call, the Architect may conduct the tour with the National Jury asking questions. During the second half of the call the National Jury will ask to see specific aspects of the project.

  • The entrants are not required to submit any additional material for the National Jury to review.
  • The National Jury will not provide their questions to entrants ahead of time.
  • We ask that entrants don’t utilise professional film crews but rather a portable device. The National Jury may ask to see the back of the project or the broader landscape of where the project is situated, therefore hand-held devices are preferred.
  • Zoom calls will be 30 minutes per category with an additional 15 minutes if considered in an additional category. An additional 5 minutes has been added to each call for connection and introductions.
  • The jury would prefer that one representative conducts the Zoom call on behalf of the project, ideally this will be the Architect. The client is welcome to be on the call in a supporting capacity to provide further context.
  • Please refer to your email from Lauren Craddock, National Awards & Prizes Manager for details of your Zoom schedule and link to join the call. The National Awards & Prizes Manager will be on the call to help manage the schedule.

For project with limited internet connection

  • If your project has limited internet connection to support a Zoom call, please advise Lauren Craddock when you receive your Zoom schedule.
  • The jury will indicate on submitted plans, the areas they would like to see.
  • We ask the entrant to film the project based on the marked plans provided by the jury. We ask that entrants don’t utilise professional film crews but rather a portable device.
  • Videos will need to be limited to 500MB, no longer than 15mins in length and with no commentary. We will provide details on how to upload this video for the National Jury to view.
  • The National Jury will watch the video as part of the Zoom call, asking questions throughout.

Announcements

The National Architecture Awards Shortlist will be announced in September.

The National winners in each category will be announced at the National Architecture Awards in November.

General requirements for Zoom

  • All participants should wear headphones with a microphone, so it is easy to hear the hosts as they are moving through the project and ambient noise is reduced.
  • If hosts have a variety of devices available, they should select the one with the highest camera pixels.
  • Hosts should walk slowly or stand still in a room and pan slowly so that the image remains clear.
  • Lights should be turned on in the project as this impacts the Zoom image.
  • The image quality will also be impacted by the quality of the WIFI, hosts should ensure that they can access the project WIFI

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