International Competition for the Urban and Architectural Concept Design of a Section of the Coastal Zone in Budva
Competition brief
Budva’s waterfront is the subject of an open, anonymous, single-stage international design competition. The task joins the promenade, port and beach with the urban hinterland, while protecting views of the Old Town. The site extends from Brijeg od Budve to Zavala: approximately 42.7 hectares, including 15.8 hectares of land. It combines public-space design with port operations and heritage constraints.
The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property of Montenegro is the public organizer. The brief was prepared with the coastal-management enterprise Morsko dobro and commission members. This is a planning-linked concept competition: the selected design is intended to enter the planning document after approval and revision. No construction appointment or delivery date is promised.
Key information
| Organizer | Montenegro’s Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property. |
| Eligibility | International individuals and legal entities; conflict-of-interest exclusions apply. |
| Entry fee | Free; preparation, delivery and exhibition costs are not stated as reimbursable. |
| Prizes | EUR 99,000 net total (approximately USD 111,128); distribution below. |
| Registration deadline | No separate registration; participate through submission. |
| Submission deadline | 15 December 2026, 11:00 UTC (12:00 CET). |
Scope and eligibility
The brief calls for connected pedestrian spaces, greenery, accessible routes, improved port protection and berths, and a port-service building with ten offices and supporting facilities. It also invites consideration of a fish market and swimming-pool improvements. Most services should use existing structures where specified. Proposals on privately owned plots are recommendations for later planning review.
The ambition to expand the beach must be read alongside the protection rules for Slovenska Beach, which prohibit shoreline alteration and permanent construction within the protected area, apart from specified accessible ramps. Teams should obtain clarification before treating expansion as unrestricted reclamation.
Individuals and entities worldwide may enter. The notice excludes people involved in organizing the competition, their close relatives, Ministry or local-government employees, and people who left Ministry employment less than two years earlier. It does not state a separate nationality, student-only or professional-license requirement.
Submission requirements
| Format and language | A3 (297 × 420 mm) or A2 (420 × 594 mm). The competition is conducted in Montenegrin and English. No fixed sheet count or file-size limit is stated. |
| Files | Three folders: consolidated text-and-drawings PDF; DWG files; JPEG visualizations. Include a four-digit entry code on every attachment and remove identifying information. |
| Text | Design rationale, development parameters and area tables, preliminary investment estimate, construction conditions, energy measures, landscape protection and materials/technical explanation. |
| Drawings | Land use, subdivision/regulation/grading and wider context at 1:1000; detailed site and sections at 1:500; landscape plans/sections at 1:200, 1:500 or 1:1000; building plans, sections and elevations at 1:200; circulation diagrams and furniture details. Scales may be adapted with justification. |
| Visualizations | The wording allows up to five views while requiring at least two aerial and three ground-level views: prepare five to satisfy both statements. |
| Digital delivery | Email a download link to obalnipojas@mdup.gov.me using a dedicated anonymous Gmail address based on obalnipojas and the four-digit code. The notice specifies a separating dot but its example omits it; seek clarification. No email is sent by ArchUp. |
| Physical envelope | Also send a sealed identity envelope marked AUTHOR – DO NOT OPEN, code on the back, containing the signed declaration. Deliver to the Ministry, IV Proleterske Brigade 19, 81000 Podgorica. Hand delivery: working days 10:00–12:00 local time through the deadline. Registered post: retain the receipt; the notice accepts the postal stamp dated 15 December as evidence. |
| After selection | The highest-ranked author must revise within ten days of results. Final PDF/DWG and printed documentation follow verification. Awarded and purchased entries must later provide mounted A0 boards on the organizer’s timetable. |
Awards and timetable
| Net awards | First EUR 42,000 ≈ USD 47,145; second EUR 27,000 ≈ USD 30,308; third EUR 16,000 ≈ USD 17,960; two purchases EUR 7,000 each ≈ USD 7,858 each. |
| Budget distinction | The EUR 165,000 gross competition fund (≈ USD 185,213) is not the prize pool. EUR 2,000 for revisions (≈ USD 2,245) is included in the award amount, not an additional guaranteed fee. Awards are stated net; individual cross-border tax treatment is not explained. |
| Questions / answers | Questions by 26 October; answers by 3 November 2026. Results due by 20 December 2026. |
| Document discrepancies | The notice starts the competition on 5 October, while the public page says 6 October. Both give the same closing date. The planning document’s gazette reference also differs between brief and notice; consult official clarification. |
| Currency basis | Approximate conversions dated 19 October 2026, using the ECB reference EUR 1 = USD 1.1225; contractual sums remain in euros. |
Jury and criteria
| Mirjana Đurišić — chair | Architect; head of the Directorate of the Chief State Architect. |
| Branislav Gregović / Krunoslav Ivanišin | Architects at LXXVI, Podgorica / Ivanišin & Kabashi Arhitekti, Zagreb. |
| Tadej Glažar / Sofija Hajrizaj | Architect at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Architecture / architect at Montenegro’s cultural-property protection administration. |
| Miljana Miljanić / Dragoljub Marković | Civil engineer at Morsko dobro / spatial planner. |
| Nevena Jovović / Goran Idrizović | Architect heading the Ministry’s spatial-planning directorate / captain heading maritime and inland navigation at the maritime ministry. |
| Scoring | Spatial quality and feasibility 15; aesthetics 10; programme 10; environment 10; economy and maintenance 5 points. |
Rights and delivery limits
Economic rights in awarded and purchased designs transfer to the organizer or initiating area user after the decision and payment. Winning is not a guaranteed construction contract.
The commission may withhold awards it finds unjustified. Fewer than three entries cancels the competition. Entries will be publicly exhibited online; no general preparation-cost or cancellation compensation is specified. With no entry fee, there is no registration payment to refund. Unresolved disputes go to the court competent for the organizer.
✦ ArchUp Competition Review
This is a substantive public-realm opportunity with an identifiable public authority, published documents, a funded award structure and a named multidisciplinary panel. The Ministry’s portal also records other competition results, including the Emergency Medical Services Institute in Podgorica; that demonstrates an operating competition programme, without proving delivery or payment outcomes for this call.
The panel’s architecture, landscape-adjacent coastal management, heritage and navigation roles are relevant to a waterfront where safety and public access must coexist. Several jurors represent the commissioning institutions, so the panel should not be portrayed as entirely external. The preparation burden is substantial: technical files, a physical identity envelope, later boards and rapid revisions. In the committee’s assessment, the strongest response will reconcile access and port activity with the protected beach, rather than rely on an attractive waterfront image alone.
Related competitions — Editorial team selection
For related reading, the future of Harem Bus Station considers a waterfront transition, while Eulsukdo Land ecological art offers an archive reference for landscape and public use. These links do not confirm current entry availability.
Time remaining for submission
Countdown: 15 December 2026, 11:00 UTC, corresponding to the official 12:00 CET deadline. The separate physical identity-envelope procedure above also applies.
Brief and application
Read the brief, notice, site files and published clarifications on the direct competition page.
