As part of the London Future of Design 2025, we are hosting a Design Competition to give you the opportunity to showcase your creativity, technical insight, and vision for the future of the built environment.
Participants are invited to reimagine one of the UK’s iconic millennium structures for the year 2050, in a world that has reached Net Zero. Submissions should reflect a bold and sustainable vision, incorporating principles of innovation, community relevance, and structural creativity.
More details can be found on the brief below.
Brief:
Competition Questions:
| Should we assume that the existing structure is to be demolished and replaced with a completely new design, or is the intention to refurbish and retain the current structure? | In terms of the brief, you should assume that it is a completely new design. The intent is to re-imagine a different structure in the space. |
| What kind of content is expected on our poster? Should we include technical drawings, renderings, structural modelling and analysis, sketches, etc.? | We have left the brief open to allow you to choose the content. Sketches to explain the concept are encouraged; the poster should be visual with some supporting evidence of feasibility. |
| Would it be possible to view examples of previously shortlisted entries to better understand the standard and expectations? | Unfortunately, we have not had an exact competition like this that we can access submissions from. The provided sample at the bottom of this table is an example of what I’d imagine the poster to be like (this is a random project found online and has no relevance for this design competition). |
| Can you please confirm that we enter the competition by submitting our poster to you by 11 September 2025, and that there are no other requirements before that deadline? | That is correct. |
| Are we allowed to relocate our chosen bridge at all? For example, where there might be better connection points for crossing. If so, how far can it be moved? | This is fine as long as it provides the same connectivity from a town planning point of view. |
| Is there any budget that needs to be adhered to? | There is no budget for your proposed design, so feel free to be as creative as you can. |
| Should the poster layout be portrait, landscape or is either option acceptable? | Either is fine. |
| Is it compulsory to have a team of 4 to enter this competition? Can’t it be a team of 2? | It’s not a requirement to be in a team of four, this is simply a limit, feel free to enter as a pair. |
| Do we need to register ourself to confirm our participation directly or are we supposed to submit the drawing on A1 sheet on the said date? | There’s no need to register your participation; please just submit the A1 poster on or before the final date |
Prizes:
Cash Prize – £200
Timeline:
| 12th July 2025 | Design Competition brief issued. |
| 4th September 2025 17:00 | End of questions period. Any questions about the brief or the competition should be sent to events@iabse.org.uk Answers will be made available to all competitors and published on the IABSE UK website. |
| 11th September 2025 17:00 | Deadline for competition submission. |
| 18th September 2025 | Shortlisted entries notified. |
| 25th September 2025 | Winner announcement at the IABSE FoD Conference London 2025. |
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