The first point to make about the competition for the new British Embassy in Warsaw relates not to the architecture of the six submissions but to the selection process that produced them. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has long been committed to appointing new, and often young, architects to carry out its major projects and to the architectural competition as the means of selecting a design. Anticipating the procedures now legally required under OJEC rules, the FCO openly advertises for architects to apply to be selected to participate in their various competitions. Following detailed briefings and extended site visits, designs are then produced, and presented, and winners chosen.