Your guide to WAF's judging process

Want to discuss your work with your peers and heroes from around the world, carefully selected clients and leading editors?Live presentations, and the fact that all festival delegates can attend them, are two key elements in what make the WAF awards unique but how exactly does it work?

Increase your chances of being a winner

Watch Editorial Director of The Architectural Review and WAF Programme Director Paul Finch's step-by-step guide to the WAF judging process. Understand how it works to strengthen your entry and increase your chances of being a WAF winner.

Complete your entry on or before the 1 May for the discounted early bird rate

Increase your chances of success

We know that the WAF judging process is an integral part of your WAF experience and that knowing that your project has been assessed fairly and with expertise is crucial when entering. WAF has implemented a rigorous criteria to ensure your judges are equipped to critique and select winners from some seriously competitive line ups.Criteria for jury selection include:

Known critical faculties

Outstanding critic

International experience as an architect or allied professional

Outstanding reputation as an architect or allied professional

Media partner editors or contributors known to have good critical faculties 

Recipients of regional and international awards including WAF award winners

Geographical origin to ensure a balanced global judging group in the round

Experience and expertise in relation to particular building types

This year’s judges include Sir Peter Cook, Kerry Hill, Sou Fujimoto and many more. Read our advice on how you can present your entry in the way most likely to engage the WAF judges.

How do WAF judges make their decisions?

WAF judges make their choices on the basis of their experience, and with the intent of picking the entries that are great examples of architecture in the round, that is to say well conceived, well designed and well presented, and which lift the spirits. Like any judges, they will be interested in whether the work gives to (or at worst takes from) its context. 

In respect of what makes a good design, we cite a document written for the UK’s Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment which you can view here. 

WAF hope that this information is helpful but if you have any additional queries we would be very happy to speak to you in detail, simply request that we call you back.

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