So before you put pen to paper and start sketching you may want to view the sites mentioned in the briefs in Google Earth and get a feel for the terrain, locality and infrastructure, but why stop there follow the download brief page and submit your entry using SketchUp.

SketchUp's tools are easy to get to grips and are intuitive enough to help rather than hinder your project's progress, the downloads also include tutorials that will help you get started and you will be able to use components in and draw inspiration from the Google 3D Warehouse. And once you have created your model why not place it on the site supplied in Google Earth and then admire your work in its natural context.

With its simple toolkit and powerful interoperability options you can SketchUp will let you model directly from, jpegs, dxf's, dwg's or even scanned freehand drawings so that within a very short space of time you can create client winning 3D visualisations that illustrate spatiality and environmental and architectural sympathy in Google Earth.
SketchUp is currently available in either a Free version for Personal Use, or for use in this "free to enter" competition; or as Pro version for Commercial Use, which will allows users a greater flexibility in exporting their SketchUp models to their CAD software.

But don't take our word for it, here is what some of our users have to say about SketchUp:

"For the designers and architects at the practice the exciting value of the programme is that it is an intuitive programme which can be picked up by architects whatever their technical capabilities... It is not complicated and it allows designers to concentrate more on the design than to constantly battle the complexities of a sophisticated drawing programme"

Mike Bufalino - Shepard Robson

"Despite my limited experience I've been able to produce conceptual drawings to a level that was previously beyond me. The training day I attended was beneficial and I found the application is so user friendly that even without computer skills or a drafting background I soon started to achieve surprisingly good visual presentations."