Introduction to the application form

Dear Sir or Madam,

thank you for your interest in participating in the competition to bring into being the 'New Premises of the International Criminal Court, The Hague, The Netherlands'.

The following introduction will help you to complete the form and the requirements laid down in the announcement as easily as possible.

After conclusion of the application process a list of the selected participants in the competition will be published on this internet platform. The non-successful candidates will not be published, so as to protect their privacy.

Please bear in mind that all documents must be submitted in English; all information provided in languages other than English will not be considered.

Disclaimer

The official regulation of the application is laid down in the announcement as published in the Official Journal of the European Union. In case of any differences between this introduction letter and the announcement, the announcement will serve as official document.

Deadline

The deadlines for submission of the application are:

  • 1 April 2008 for submission by post (postmark or handed over to a delivery service)
  • 1 April 2008, 12 pm CET for submission by eMail

Parts of the application

Your application has to consist of 2 parts:

A Application by post as print-out;

B Application by eMail.


A Application by mail

Please download the application form (word-document) that is applicable for you ( single application or team application (see below). Fill out and sign it and send it back with a print-out of the requested images by post to:

ANP
Keyword: "ICC"
Hessenallee 2
D-34130 Kassel, Germany

Please notice that the printed-out application documents will not be sent back.


B Application by eMail

The complete application (application form + images) has to be sent by eMail as a pdf-file or, as an exception, as a tif-file. Please make sure that you follow the requirements stated below:

  • pdf: max 150 dpi or 3 MB per page, files not to be provided with write/print protection;
  • tif: max. 150 dpi at format A4 (297 x 210 mm).

Please consider that in your own interest the pictures and photos on these images should be clear and expressive, legible also via projector, because they will serve as a basis to assess the architectural quality of the realised projects / architectural work.

Please send the digital application to info@icc-architectural-competition.com.



Application form

  • The form 'single application' is provided for an individual architect, a legally associated group of architects and a legal person created to provide architectural services.
  • The form 'team application' is provided for ad-hoc teams of architects (see above: individual architect/s, legally associated group/s of architects and/or legal person/s) teamed-up especially for participation in this competition.

The ad-hoc teams are allowed particularly with regard to combinations of 'established offices' with architects, who do not fulfil the minimum requirements.

Please note: An application of a legally associated group of architects, a legal person or an ad-hoc team counts as one common application. The members of the legally associated groups of architects as well as each member of the ad-hoc teams or shareholders of a legal person must not submit separate applications.

Details for completion the application form / providing the requested images

1 Identification

Single application: Please fill in the name and address under which you or your firm or company operates. In case the competition entry will not be worked out at your head quarters but instead in a specific subsidiary or branch and the correspondence should be sent to this address, please complete the column 'Subsidiary'. The declaration of the location (only town and country) of additional subsidiaries is only for information.

Members of ad-hoc teams are requested to identify themselves each analogous to the requirements mentioned above (single application). If there are more than three members of the ad-hoc team, please copy the provided page (incl. 2.1 and 2.2 of the application form) as often as needed. In the column 'Subsidiary', please enter the address of the team member where the competition entry will be worked out and to which correspondence should be sent.

2 Specifications concerning formal criteria

2.1 Legal status

Single application:

  • Please tick the appropriate box. In case of a 'legally associated group of architects' or a 'legal person' indicate which legal form your firm / company holds for the implementation of the services requested.
  • If applicable, also indicate whether your firm / company is affiliated with other organisations and if so, in what form (group / holding company / branch office / representative, etc.).

Team application:

  • Each team member has to fulfil the legal status analogous to the requirements mentioned above (single application).

In general - if applicable

  • The composition of the legally associated groups as well as the ad-hoc teams shall not change in the course of the competition;
  • Applicants whose main business purpose is the execution of building works, or applicants who are controlled by such building enterprises are excluded from participation.

2.2 Partners / associates of the architectural firm / company applying

Single application: If applicable, please name the partners / associates (holders or owners, not the employees) of your architectural firm / company (in case of 'legally associated groups of architects' and 'legal persons').

Ad-hoc team application: Each team member should name the partners / associates analogous to the requirements mentioned above (single application).

In general:

Column 4 shall provide information concerning the ability to use the professional title 'Architect', e.g. membership number of an architectural association / chamber or similar proof with reference to 2005/36 EG guideline (see Clause 2.3).

2.3 Appointment of one individual person responsible for the application

As a reminder (see announcement III.1.2):

Allowed to participate are individual persons who are authorised to use the professional title 'Architect' pursuant to a law which gives the competent authority of their home state, or the state, where they carry out the profession, the power to award that title. If in their home state, or the state, where they carry out their profession, no legal rule exists concerning the use of the professional title 'Architect', then a degree or similar proof of ability will be accepted, provided that it fulfils the requirements stipulated in the Directive 2005/36 EG.

In case of the application of 'legally associated groups of architects' and 'legal persons' (single application) and in case of ad-hoc teams (team application): They shall appoint one individual person, having the required qualification, to be responsible for the application. Column 4 shall provide information concerning the ability to use the professional title 'Architect' of this person responsible, e.g. membership number of an architectural association / chamber or similar proof with reference to 2005/36 EG guideline.

3 Specifications concerning professional selection criteria

3.1 Quantitative specifications

3.1.1 Experience and expertise

This box serves as a source to evaluate the experience and expertise of the applicant.

In general:

  • For the requested proof, confirmation by signature of the declaration on the correctness of the given information shall be sufficient (see Clause 4 of the application form).
  • If the lines provided in the tables are not sufficient, please copy additional lines as often as needed.

Table 3.1.1 - Reference project/s (since 1998):

Minimum requirement: Applicants must furnish proof that they have been responsible during the past 10 years (since 1998) for the planning and implementation / realisation of at least one reference project. Reference projects are classified as one building or complex of buildings of at least 20,000 m² total gross floor space and comparable functional complexity; the applicants shall have been responsible for the implementation of the project in several planning phases.

Exceeding the minimum requirements will be an asset. Therefore it is highly recommended that all projects matching the requirements as 'reference project' are listed.

Please name the project in column 1. The comparability regarding functionality and complexity will be assessed by consideration of all given information. Therefore the project name must provide information concerning the project's character. Please avoid non-comprehensible abbreviations (e.g. 'XX-building, in YY-town'). Projects that are not clearly described will not be assessed. If need be, please add some additional brief explanations about the function of the project as a footnote.

Please name the client in column 2, with name and website only (to gain, if need be, further information).

To evaluate your responsibility, please specify the planning phases in which you were involved; if possible, please insert the codes provided in column 3 (e.g. 1 - outline proposal, 2 - detailed proposal, 3 - final proposal, 4 - tender action, 5 - practical completion); otherwise it is up to you to use another explanation (e.g. in a footnote).

Column 4 shall list the year of completion, which has to be within the last 10 years - older projects will not be taken into account. The total gross floor space shall be inserted in column 5; requested is the total gross space above ground. The investment volume (column 6) serves as additional information concerning the complexity of the project/s. It should be marked in column 7, whether images of the listed project/s are attached. At least one project has to be presented in the requested images.

For team applications: to identify the responsible member of the ad-hoc team please insert the short-name in column 0.

3.1.2 Reliability

The reliability will be measured by means of:

a) Continuity of occupation / professional activity (minimum 10 years / since 1998)

Please describe briefly the history of your architectural firm / company indicating the date of formation.

For team applications: ad-hoc teams shall provide the information for each member of the team. At least one member of the ad-hoc team has to fulfil the requested minimum requirement.

b) Number and function of employees (minimum requirement: 20 full-time permanently employed per year and during the whole year, for a period of the last 3 years)

Please give the requested information on the average number of staff members and their function differentiated for the last three years. Not to be included are the partners / associates (holders / owners) (see Clause 2.2 of the form).

For team applications: ad-hoc teams shall provide the information per each member of the team. At least one member of the ad-hoc team has to fulfil the requested minimum requirement.

c) Insurance

Please confirm by declaration as minimum requirement, that you will be able to contract adequate insurance for the purpose of this project. If an insurance already exists, please give the requested information.

For team applications: ad-hoc teams may provide the information per each member of the team. For ad-hoc teams it is sufficient as minimum requirement to confirm the declaration for the complete team.

d) Technical resources

Please confirm by declaration as minimum requirement, that you will be able to work with a digital drawing / CAD programme and will be equipped with the adequate hard- and software to execute a project of such size. The already existing technical equipment can be declared in the provided box.

For team applications: ad-hoc teams may provide the information per each member of the team. For ad-hoc teams it is sufficient as minimum requirement to confirm the declaration for the complete team.

3.2 Qualitative specifications - Architectural quality

The architectural quality shall be measured by means of

a) The architectural quality of realised projects (since 1998)

The applicants shall submit images of (at least one of) the reference projects listed in table 3.1.1 (minimum requirement). For identification the project/s shall be marked in column 7 of table 3.1.1.

In case in addition to the reference project/s, other projects not necessarily comparable with regard to the size and complexity are also submitted in the images to present the architectural quality of the work, e.g. of members of ad-hoc teams not fulfilling the minimal requirements, they shall be listed in the provided table 3.2.a) with the requested information analogous to the reference project/s (table 3.1.1) (see III. 1.3.2 of the announcement). The year of completion of these additional projects shall be also within the last 10 years; older projects will not be taken into account. The projects will not have any influence on the criteria 'experience and expertise'.

For team applications: to identify the responsible member of the ad-hoc team please insert the short-name in column 0.

The images serve as a basis to assess the architectural quality of the realised projects / architectural work of the applicant (besides the below mentioned successful participation in competitions - 3.2.b) and honours, prizes and awards - 3.2.c).

The number of the images must not exceed three A3 (ca. 420 x 297 mm) pages in landscape format in total per application, regardless the number of projects presented and regardless how many members are involved in the applying legally associated group, ad-hoc team or legal person . Surplus pages will not be taken into account. If the number of images exceeds the number of three A 3 pages, the Rgd will select randomly and regardless of the quality of the images (projects) three pages from the submitted documents.

The number of the projects in the images is up to the client. The number is not decisive. Decisive are the quality of the presented projects and therefore the means by which this quality will be made visible. It is highly recommended that the pictures and photos in the images are clear and expressive and legible also via projector. The images shall be presented as print-out and in electronic format (pdf-file or, as an exception, tif-file).

Please note: The print-outs and digital images need to be identical in form and content. The print-outs are used as a check-up of the image files and will be scanned in case of damaged or unreadable digital files. The reference sheets should therefore be submitted as colour copies.

b) Successful participation in competitions (since 1998)

Please list all successful competitions with the requested information in table 3.2. b). Successful participation means gaining a prize. Projects before 1998 are not counted. If a successful competition has been realised (column 4) and listed as reference project (column 5) and/or is attached in the images (column 6), please make this clear in the columns provided.

For team applications: to identify the responsible member of the ad-hoc team please insert the short-name in column 0.

c) Professional honours, prizes, awards (since 1998)

Please list professional honours, prizes, awards and the like. Honours, prizes and awards before 1998 are not counted.

For team applications: to identify the responsible member of the ad-hoc team please insert the short-name in column 0.

4 Declarations

The information given can not be verified in principle. Nevertheless the client reserves the right to contact the applicant, to ask for further information or to request documents in case of doubt.

With your signature you confirm the correctness and completeness of your information. If your declaration turns out in hindsight to be incorrect, the client reserves the right to disqualify the participant from the competition by post.

We wish you success for your application. If you have any requests, please do not hesitate to ask via eMail (info@icc-architectural-competition.com). The requests and answers will be posted anonymously on the this internet platform and accessible for all applicants. It is up to the applicants to keep themselves up to date regarding the latest information.

With kind regards

Rgd/ANP Competition team

The Hague, 4 February 2008