Take the following tips from leading architecture and design professionals to heart to bring your fanciest ideas to life and clearly communicate your design vision for project bids.
We all want to win more contracts, but not only that, we want to land better and more attractive projects. However, the goal is not just a higher contract value, but desirable projects that remind you why you became an architect in the first place: Projects that excite you and where you can fully develop your creativity to leave a lasting impression on those around you and be able to look back on your work with justifiable pride. Unfortunately, competition for these opportunities is fierce. You need to be ready to commit to your project proposal - whether a general contractor is considering you as a design partner, you are participating in an architectural competition with a tight schedule, or a specific tender has just been issued. Whether you win or lose tenders depends very much on your ability to make a lasting impression and communicate your design vision. Learn how to create winning design proposals and bids in this article with tips from project proposal writers and leading architecture and design professionals.
Omar Calderon Santiago's innovative design and impressive commitment helped convince key stakeholders to provide funding for the most energy-efficient high school in the United States (Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, designed by Perkins Eastman).
1. Maintain contacts.
Building contacts starts long before you have a design idea. Half the battle of winning the contract is establishing and maintaining contacts: with clients, end users, general contractors, other architects (if you normally collaborate on your projects), local councillors, contractors and government representatives. As the list of people with whom trust needs to be built is long, you should definitely focus on contacts that are particularly important for your type of project. In addition to making new contacts, it is also important to maintain existing contacts. Returning customers are the foundation of your business. Therefore, you should always deliver top performance and also address any concerns your customers may have about the time after the building has been put into use.
The interior designers of the hotel in Chengdu used a true BIM workflow throughout the project for design teams and contractors to reduce construction time by 50%.
2. Choose the right team.
Before you start creating an award-winning design, you need to bring the right people together. What's involved in choosing the right team? It's about being guided by various aspects such as expertise, previous collaborations and the client's objectives when choosing your team. Let's assume, for example, that you have to decide which landscape architecture firm to work with on a new project. You have two options:
Option A: You could work with a landscape architecture firm that you have already worked with, because you know that their work is solid, reliable and even innovative.
Option B: You agree to cooperate with another landscape architecture firm that is preferred by the client. You have never worked with Option B before, but your structural engineer can report good experience with this firm. Option B is also an expert in rainwater management, which is central to the client's goal of creating a living building.
Do you stick with the familiar (option A) or take a risk (option B)? If it's a smaller project with not much at stake, it may make sense to work with the landscape architect you don't know (Option B), who is preferred by the client. Choosing the right team is a balancing act where, on the one hand, you need to make it clear to the client that you are familiar with their needs and requirements. On the other hand, you need to ensure that you have the right team for the project if you are actually awarded the contract.
Kunskapsparken (Knowledge Park) in Sweden: The bird's eye view illustrates the connection to the nearby Kungsmarken nature reserve.
3. Present your design in context.
Make it clear to the customer that you have taken the time to understand their project in depth. Going into the details in depth may spark ideas to improve your design concept. An easy way to show that you are familiar with the topography, building conditions and other requirements is to present your preliminary design in a real-life context. Use SketchUp features such as Add Location to present the potential site in geographic context. You can then import additional high-resolution satellite images and create simple mass models. Go one step further and perform a precise shadow analysis by using climate data analysis in a tool like PreDesign. We recommend taking this extra step to make it clear that you know exactly how the topography on site will affect building placement, pedestrian access and occupant views. Your detailed knowledge will make the appropriate impression.
4. Always create different design iterations.
Unless you are particularly lucky, your initial concept for an award-winning sports stadium will require several iterations. Your initial concept in a high-profile design competition may also be considered by your competitors. You're most likely to win the bid if you take an angle that others won't come up with. Unfortunately, you probably don't have a lot of time for sophisticated brainstorming, and this process costs valuable staff hours. To reduce the effort involved in redesigning 3D models, go with a fairly low level of detail or use a small selection of (dynamic and vibrant) components until you decide on the final concept. According to J. Pickens, designer and TV personality at cable channel HGTV, when developing an unconventional and unique idea, "creativity must always come first." Use flexible architectural design software like SketchUp to quickly create different design iterations.
"SketchUp is a valuable tool for communicating complex ideas very quickly in an impressive way and getting the conversation going with customers. It's more important to use software to spark that creativity than to deal with the mundane details of making a particular part 2.22 cm tall, for example."
-J. Pickens, HGTV star
Henry Goss of architectural visualization firm The Boundary creates his individual, distinctive styleby incorporating architectural principles into his sophisticated, detailed illustrations.
5. Create impressive image material.
Once you've decided on your design, it's time to use visual storytelling to draw the client into the world of your 3D concepts. Jim Kessler, the head of Jacobs Visual Media Group, describes communicating project intent as "turning on the light bulb". There are three key ways to achieve visual impact: first, incorporate 3D models into 3D rendering software to create stunning visuals; second, convey the concepts via video; and third, make effective use of interactive tools such as virtual reality and augmented reality. Whatever you choose, it's important to develop a unique visual style so that your design idea is recognizable and stands out from other designs.
Realistic visual representations can certainly add the wow factor to a design proposal, but creating these representations with a high degree of realism is a particular challenge. In this case, you should work with visualization software such as Enscape or V-Ray. Architect and visual designer Luis Bertomeu Sanchez recommends using models from 3D Warehouse to speed up your workflow. Often, other people have already created a chair, a plant or a window based on real specifications, and you can import the model from 3D Warehouse with minimal adjustments.
"Context is the most important part of rendering. The future residents can change the furnishings, but they can't influence how the light reflects off the walls during the day or what the view is like from the bedroom window. They have to make sure that these details are right. This is also the part of the project that leaves the least room for creative freedom."
-Luis Bertomeu Sanchez, architect and visual designer
Some architects prefer less realistic representations instead. However, these are perfect for explaining your vision without committing to a photorealistic image that may change later. James Akers, a long-time architectural design and visualization consultant, is passionate about creating watercolor-style renderings. Akers' clients are often other architects. Architectural designers come to him under deadline pressure because they have to submit a proposal and need a quick presentation for their preliminary designs. He has developed a perfect workflow to create renderings by hand (with the Apple Pencil) very quickly in SketchUp for iPad. If you want to make sure your project stands out from the crowd of proposals, consider this or a similar style that is highly distinctive and expressive.
The architecture firm Lund+Slaatto Arkitekter presents the preliminary design to customers via live click through SketchUp scenes (SketchUp model of the Valle Wood project).
6. Communicate your vision clearly.
Visuals are just one part of how you communicate your design vision to a client. There is usually a written part of your design proposal where you introduce the team, your values, previous project experience and your project approach. After speaking with many marketing professionals and business owners in the architecture, design and construction industry, our advice is to write clearly and concisely, putting the client at the center. While you can appropriately highlight the many benefits of your business, your primary focus should be on the customer and how they can benefit from your expertise. For greater impact, combine text and visuals by using SKP files in Microsoft 365 applications such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.
Do you need to make a presentation to a customer? It's not necessarily easy to get to the heart of the matter in front of an audience. Even if you design your idea in three dimensions, your presentation may consist of a combination of screenshots and PNG files. 2D visuals are certainly appropriate at certain points and times in your presentation, but we encourage you to let the customer see the world of possibilities you can offer them: Let the technology speak for itself. We recommend using SketchUp's presentation mode on the iPad. Navigate through 3D virtual tours with the simplified presentation mode interface, or use the full-screen mode to show off your designs to their best advantage. Move through scenes with a three-finger swipe gesture, play animations or activate the laser pointer to draw attention to particularly relevant areas when using an external display to share content during video calls. If you don't have an iPad available, another mobile device can also display augmented reality content. Using digital technologies in your presentation is a great way to immerse prospects in your living, breathing vision.
You have it in your own hands!
Focus on the contacts that best serve your company's goals, assemble your top team, research your client's values and project context, and be prepared to create multiple design iterations in search of the compelling design. You present your vision in an understandable way, and your tools are 3D technology and captivating visualizations that show the client the potential of their project. An important point: if you don't win the bid, you should always ask the client for a debriefing to see what you can do better in the future. There is a real art to making unique and inspiring design proposals. Architecture firms that master this build the best projects and ultimately do the work that truly fulfills them.
Use SketchUp for your next architectural design as a free 30-day trial.
