Folly 2025 Call for Entries — Brick Bay Sculpture Trail

The Opportunity

The Brick Bay Sculpture Trust invites emerging architects to submit concepts for the annual Brick Bay Folly; a design-build competition that investigates the intersection between sculpture and architecture with temporary structures that intentionally serve no utilitarian purpose.

Architectural follies are found all over the world, and their purpose is to inspire and delight audiences. But even more importantly, folly projects provide a fantastic opportunity for emerging architects to test their ideas on a real life project, manage construction, solve contingencies and participate in physical construction.

The process is as important as the result, with the winning submission receiving a grant and technical assistance, and once complete, exposure that might not otherwise have been available to them.

Award and Exhibition

Five finalists are selected in June 2024. One conceptual project will then be selected as the paramount winner which will be publicly announced in May 2025.

The successful team will receive a grant, as well as in-kind sponsorship, to the overall value of $30,000 towards realising the proposed project.

In addition to this, technical advice and support will be available throughout the project by Resene, Cassidy Construction, Structure Design, Cheshire Architects and Unitec.

The finished project will be installed and exhibited on the Brick Bay Sculpture Trail beginning in the first quarter of 2025 for a period of no less than 12 months and up to 24 months. The project will be documented by one of New Zealand’s leading architectural photographers, Samuel Hartnett.

An article promoting the Brick Bay Folly will be published in print in Architecture New Zealand and online at ArchitectureNow.

Eligibility criteria

The intention of the folly competition is to create opportunities for emerging architects.

The Brick Bay Folly 2025 is open to teams who are:

● Recent architectural graduates (graduated within the last 10 years as at 1st of February 2024).

● Students currently enrolled in an accredited undergraduate, postgraduate or doctoral level architectural programme at a New Zealand tertiary institution (including international students who are currently enrolled in a New Zealand institution).

Submission Guidelines

The Brick Bay Folly selection process is competitive. A jury of architects, artists, academics, arts administrators, building and paint experts, engineers and previous folly winners will select one exceptional project to be realised within the grounds of Brick Bay Sculpture Trail.

The Brick Bay Folly 2025 selection process is competitive. A jury of architects, engineers, academics, arts administrators, building and paint experts and previous folly winners will select one exceptional project to be realised within the grounds of Brick Bay Sculpture Trail.

The designated site for the selected folly will be in a new site site close to the entrance of Brick Bay. Please contact specialprojects@brickbay.co.nz for more site information.

Past Folly projects have been successful when there has been a diverse range of skills and backgrounds across the various team members. Project management, building and engineering skills are extremely beneficial, and each team member should have a clearly defined role. The team should seek external advice and support from a mentor if they have no experience with this.

It is strongly recommended that team members visit Brick Bay to view the site in advance of submitting.

● Applicants must take into account the public outdoor environment and be aware that the winning installation must meet safety requirements and be able to withstand weather and public interaction for the specified exhibition period of up to 24 months.

● Because Resene is a principal sponsor of this project, the folly must make use of colours from a Resene standard colour reference chart. Creative use of colour will be part of the judging criteria. Colours used must be standard Resene colours on a current Resene colour chart. Paint and or coatings must only be a Resene product.

Sustainability

Conceptually, and in regard to fabrication, the folly must have an emphasis on sustainability, championing circular design and environmental stewardship by:

● Minimising resource consumption by selecting sustainable materials and/ or reusing, recycled or transforming existing materials.

● Considering the consumption of energy, water and other resources used during construction and manufacture of materials.

● Optimising production and logistics, reducing pollutant emissions as much as possible during these processes.

● Reducing waste generation by moving beyond the programmed obsolescence of a temporary structure into a circular project that considers the end life of materials used.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER

The competition is for the complete design and construction of the folly and the winners will be expected to develop and document the design to the extent required to facilitate the manufacture of any components and allow for all labour, material and transport costs, assembly and installation of the work on site.

Advice and robust critique will be provided by the judging group to assist in identifying possible technical difficulties but it is incumbent upon the competition winners to resolve any and all technical and logistical issues.

● It is highly recommended that the folly be fully constructed or partially constructed off-site before being transported to Brick Bay for installation for the final assembly.

● Applicants must consider the timeline of the project. The proposed design must be realistically buildable within the outlined timeframe, meeting milestones and the final completion date.

● Transport of the work to Brick Bay and onsite erection must be considered in the budget. The engineering and construction plan should take account of the requirements of Brick Bay - a public facility and working vineyard, farm and restaurant.

Sponsorship

The Brick Bay Folly 2025 is made possible through the generous support of its sponsors who must be reasonably recognised in all marketing and media material that arises from the project. The successful team will be required to work with the Brick Bay protocol around the media. The team must not publish anything online or in print without prior approval, whilst the media embargo is in place. This will be further advised at the time of selection.

Ownership

Brick Bay Sculpture Trust will take and maintain ownership of the folly on completion and will be responsible for de-installation and removal. Brick Bay Sculpture Trust also reserves the right to sell the work.

How to Submit a Proposal

Proposals must include the following components, which must be formatted as instructed below and emailed to specialprojects@brickbay.co.nz

1. Cover Sheet

Applicants must include a separate cover sheet with name, mailing address, telephone number, email, project title. Please include the names and emails for each team member and identify one team member as the Team Leader. You can make a copy of our Cover Sheet or create your own.

2. Curriculum Vitae (CV) for Each Applicant

The CV of each participant should include information about education, work and teaching experience, awards, skills and other relevant information.

3. Project Proposal

Applicants must submit a project proposal of up to 1,000 words that clearly describes the project and its relationship to the theme of the architectural folly.

IMPORTANT: do not include the names of team members or anything else that might identify the source of your Project Proposal, as selection is made through a blind judging process, therefore applicants need to remain anonymous.

Applicants are encouraged to submit:

● Renderings and sketches of the proposed project

● Assembly diagrams

● Detailed timeline for the project stages, including anticipated workshop hours

● Schedule of tools and machinery needed

● Plans for the reuse, recycling, dispersal of all material used in the project

● How Resene colour(s) will be used in some aspect or all of the build project

4. Budget

A detailed budget must be included that identifies all costs including materials, transportation and labour. Please allow a contingency fund of at least 10% of the budget for additional or unforeseen costs. Brick Bay will provide guidelines to the winning team for the release of funds and approved use of funds.

5. Detailed Description of Manufacturing and Installation

A detailed description of the methodology for prefabrication, transportation and onsite erection and construction must be included. Please note that the team members are expected to lead the building of the folly and also need to be onsite to supervise any work undertaken, including that of contractors, tradespeople, friends and family.

Application Format

The application package should be emailed to specialprojects@brickbay.co.nz in PDF format of not more than 15 pages and 15MB. You can submit the Cover Sheet and Proposal as separate files or combined as one (remembering that the proposal must be anonymous).

Please put Brick Bay Folly 2025 Submission in the subject line of the email.