Dezeen has teamed up with Villeroy & Boch and Ideal Standard to launch the Shaping Water Competition, a design contest that challenges entrants to create an installation celebrating the essence of water for Clerkenwell Design Week.

We are looking for bold and imaginative ideas for a large-scale installation for St John's Gate, a prominent historic location in the heart of Clerkenwell, London, during Clerkenwell Design Week.

The winning entrant will win a prize of £5,000 and a budget of £15,000 to realise their design for Clerkenwell Design Week, which takes place on 20, 21 and 22 May 2025.

This makes the Shaping Water Competition a special opportunity for an architect or designer to create an installation in an extremely high-profile location during one of London's most popular design events.

The competition is open for entries until 2 April 2025. Shortlisted designs will be published on Dezeen and showcased in an exhibition at Ideal Standard's Clerkenwell showroom.

Brief

The installation should draw from the functional and aesthetic qualities of water to celebrate its dynamic nature and the transformative effect it can have on wellbeing.

It should be a striking and captivating piece of design for the public realm that makes the most of the historic location to create an enjoyable installation for Clerkenwell Design Week visitors and other passersby.

The design must include a representation of water in some way. Entrants are free to create a functioning water feature, with either still or flowing water, or an installation that captures the essence of water in a more abstract way, such as digitally or through innovative use of another material.

Designers are free to use any materials they want for the installation. It must be easy to disassemble and reassemble so that it can be used in other locations after CDW.

Entrants must also consider the environmental impact of the design and take steps to mitigate and ideally eliminate any negative impact.

Key restrictions and limitations

The winning design will need to be constructed over a period of three days on 17, 18 and 19 May 2025, so that it is ready to open to the public during Clerkenwell Design Week on 20, 21 and 22 May. It must be completely demounted and removed from the site by Friday 23 May.

If selected as the winner, entrants must commit to realising the installation and ensure they can be in London on the above dates to install and de-install the piece, as well as be on hand for any repairs or other troubleshooting. The winning entrant will be notified in mid-April, which will give them a month to work on realising the installation.

Entrants will be given a budget of £15,000 to realise the installation. This budget must cover all costs to fabricate, install, maintain and demount the installation, including any shipping costs and any travel and accommodation costs for the team to install it. Dezeen shall not be liable for any costs exceeding the stated budget.

The site for the installation has an area of 35 square metres, measuring 7 metres long by 5 metres wide. However, it is not necessary to use the entire area.

The design must allow for a gangway of at least two metres wide for visitors to pass through the arch, and enter and exit the doorway on one side. The installation must also not touch the archway at any point, either internally or externally.

It is not possible to use a forklift or similar vehicle on the paving surrounding and underneath the arch to install or demount the installation. This paving extends approximately 20 metres from the archway on each side.

Power can be provided at the site. However, there is no running water source. If required, water will need to be supplied by a truck or tanker and entrants will need to include this cost in their overall £15,000 production budget.

Information about the site including measurements can be downloaded here. Photographs of the site can be downloaded here.

Who can enter

The competition is free to enter for anyone over the age of 18 in any country around the world but, as the winning entrant must be able to realise the installation on site, it is intended for professional architects and designers.

The winning entrant must have public liability insurance of at least £5,000,000. In addition, entrants must ensure that they are able to be in London from 17 to 23 May in order to oversee the construction and deconstruction of the installation.

Entries from individuals or teams will be accepted and entrants may enter more than one design, if they wish. However, entrants must fill out and submit a separate entry form for each design they submit.

How to enter

Contestants will need to submit their entry via this form. Entrants should include the following information:

• A description of the design concept, explaining how it responds to the brief
• A key visual (drawing or render) that showcases the idea (if shortlisted, this will be published on Dezeen and included in the exhibition)
• Up to 14 supporting images (drawings or renders) that showcase the design and explain how it will function and be constructed
• Optional: a video showcasing the design
• Optional: a physical model of the design

If submitted, videos and physical models may be included in the exhibition during Clerkenwell Design Week. In addition, shortlisted designers may be required to create and submit additional materials to be included in the exhibition.

The winning designer will also be required to create and submit additional material in order to receive necessary approvals from Clerkenwell Design Week, the local council and other stakeholders.

Each submitted image should be a single image, free from any logos or text. They should be JPGs with a minimum resolution of 72 dpi and a maximum file size of 1MB each.

The optional video or animation should be uploaded to an external hosting platform (such as YouTube or Vimeo) and submitted via a URL.

If entrants create a physical model, photos of this should be included among the 14 supporting images that they submit.

For teams, one member of the team should submit the entry with the rest of the team credited in the appropriate field on the form.

If an entrant wants to submit multiple entries, they should fill out and submit a separate entry form for each entry.

All entrants must read and agree to be bound by the competition terms and conditions before entering.

Judging criteria

Judges will be looking for bold and imaginative ideas that address the following criteria:

• Design: How well does the entry answer the brief to celebrate the dynamic nature of water and the transformative impact it can have on wellbeing?
• Impact: How successful is it as an installation for the public realm and how well does it respond to the historic site?
• Feasibility: How realistic is it to construct for the budget?
• Sustainability: How does the design reduce or eliminate environmental damage?

Judges

Competition entries will be judged by a panel of judges comprising representatives from Dezeen, Villeroy & Boch and Ideal Standard.

Closing date

All entries must be received by midnight BST (British Summer Time) on Wednesday 2 April 2025. Any entries received after this date will not be considered.

The winning entrant will be notified by mid-April, which will give them a month to work on realising the installation. Shortlisted entrants will also be informed at this time.

The finalists will be announced and published on Dezeen in May 2025.

Prizes

The winning entrant will win a prize of £5,000 and a budget of £15,000 to realise their design.

Terms and conditions

The Shaping Water Competition is organised by Dezeen. Full terms and conditions for the competition can be viewed here. All entrants must read and agree to the participation terms and conditions before entering.

Contact

Any questions about the competition and all press enquiries should be emailed to [email protected].