MINISTER v. ARCHITECTS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 87, 13 April 1911, Page 6

MINISTER v. ARCHITECTS.

•SOME CONCESSIONS TO CBITICS. AMENDED CONDITIONS. A new edition of the conditions for '■■the Parliament Buildings competition ie being printed. Th© principal alteration. is in r«spect to the judging. Th© de« signs wall be judged and the awards made by a competent professional man, practising outside New Zealand. This expert will report bo a committee to be appointed by the Government, and will confer with this committee if he thinks this course is advisable. Tho main point is that final judgment is now to rest with the outside arbiter instead of the committee. It is expected that one of the Australian State Governments will be requested to sekct the assessor. The expert selected will not know tlfo names of the competitors, which will be kept in ' sealed envelopes till the judging is finished. Provision is also now mad© to prevent more than one prize going to one competitor, though there is no restriction in the number of designs that may bo sent in by any competitor., The' assessor is to be asked "to allot an extra place or two in cs.se more than one of the first four places is filled by one competitor's designs. Regarding tho architects' complaint ?bout th© vagueness of information concerning certain rooms and the grouping of them, it is submitted that the officers of Parliament made th© specification <os definite as the circuir stances would warrant. Estimates were given for certain features, and for som-o other parts of the building scheme it waa- deemed desirable to leave scope for competitors' ideas. The Government's desire was to get good ideas, and heie was the chance.