The purpose of the awards is to acknowledge and reward outstanding architectural works that demonstrate excellence in design and address the needs and aspirations of Sri Lankan communities. The awards also serve to promote and brand Sri Lankan architecture, reflecting its people, context, and construction technology. The awards are presented in various categories, including Design, Colour, Young Architect of the Year, and Socially Responsible Architecture.
The Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA) is a professional organization representing architects in Sri Lanka. Its mission is to promote and advance the architectural profession in the country. The SLIA provides a platform for architects to collaborate, share knowledge, and engage in discussions on issues related to architecture and the built environment. It also sets standards for architecture education and practice in Sri Lanka and advocates for improving the quality of the built environment.
The SLIA wanted to automate and streamline the awards submission process by enabling the architects to submit their projects online. Architects could log into the submission portal, make their submission and then make any necessary payments directly making the process much more quick and convenient for them.
Previously the SLIA had a very involved process for the judging of selections. This was a multistage process which had a number of different stakeholders, meeting in one location and going through the submissions over the course of a few days. They wanted to streamline by this by bringing the judging process completely online, and to make it much more easier for the judges.
By automating the judgement process, they also wanted to make it more fair and impartial. They wanted to build in mechanisms to ensure anonymity throughout the judging process, thereby making it more fair.
They also wanted to create an online showcase where the projects of all the nominees and the winners were given prominence. The portal would also showcase winners and nominees and previous cycles.
The goal was to enable architects to submit their projects online, streamlining the process and making it more convenient for them. The judging process was also streamlined by making it completely online, simplifying it for the judges. This move aimed to increase impartiality by building in anonymity mechanisms throughout the process.
The main challenge of the project was to implement a multi-tier judging process that included eligibility evaluations, technical evaluations, and jury selections. The system had to incorporate mechanisms to ensure the anonymity of submissions to ensure fair judging.
Architects submitted their projects via the portal in a standardized format required by the SLIA, ensuring uniformity in the submissions. The submissions went through various rounds of evaluations by different users until the final nominees and winners were selected by a jury of their peers. The SLIA also created an online showcase for nominees and winners to showcase their work prominently on the awards portal. This initiative aimed to promote their work and bring more visibility to Sri Lankan architecture.
