The competition was open to multi-disciplinary design teams from across the globe.  It should be noted that the Jury Panel was looking for capacity WITHIN THE TEAM to deliver the project.  For many teams, this required a collaborative approach; for example, some practices from outside the UK, or with insufficient resources, or that were unable to meet the required resilience criteria, chose to team up with an executive/delivery architect or engineer.  Such collaborations were welcomed, providing the proposed delivery arrangement was clearly explained in the submission.

As a minimum the teams were expected to include proven capability in architecture, engineering and cost management.  In addition, the teams might helpfully have included specialists in landscape architecture, art, community consultation, operational management, as well as other specialisms that were pertinent to their submissions.

As a first step, competitors were required to demonstrate that the lead organisation in their team could meet the client's minimum resilience criteria.  See competition procedures for details.

Any competitor that did not meet these criteria was not eligible to take part.