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Opportunities Hub: Commissions worth the bidding

Words:
Julie Butterworth

Get hands-on with Scottish isles property upgrades, propose enhancements for the UK’s international rail terminus or help design a new market town performance venue. These are some of the latest architecture contracts and competitions from across the industry

For updates on the latest competitions, contests and contracts follow us on twitter #ribajopportunities @RIBAJ

 

Stromness in Orkney, Scotland.
Stromness in Orkney, Scotland. Credit: LouieLea / Shutterstock

Contract

ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES 2024-29, ORKNEY ISLANDS

Orkney Islands Council is looking for an architectural team under a five-year contract

Deadline: 12 noon, 11 April 2024

Orkney Islands Council is recruiting architectural and design services for a range of upgrade and maintenance projects, plus ad-hoc architectural commissions, across the islands.

Orkney, an archipeligo of around 70 islands, lies 10 miles north of the coast of Caithness, Scotland. The largest island is the Mainland with the outlying islands making up the North Isles and the South Isles. 

According to the brief, the authority has ‘a range of properties from domestic housing through to schools and leisure centres, all of which will be covered within this contract… the authority has an on-going programme of upgrading property assets with an emphasis towards energy efficiency, reduced maintenance and whole lifecycle costs [and] a track record of adopting innovative technologies… the consultant will be required to assist and further develop the authority’s sustainable developments and carbon reduction targets. The programme of works will be agreed on a case-by-case basis’.

The adaptation, repair and maintenance works will be carried out across the Mainland and the North and South Isles, covering RIBA stages 2 to 4, plus stage 5 and 6 support. Examples cited in the brief include thermal improvements to schools, architectural/conservation input post-M&E works and ad-hoc architectural commissions by mutual agreement. According to the specification, ‘additional work packages will be added as and when they are noted through the annual survey of the authority property assets. The principal designer role will be included for the projects and this will be agreed with the individual commission’.

The contract is initially for three years with options to extend for two years. Evaluation criteria: price, 60 per cent; quality, 40 per cent. Estimated value is £600,000 over the five year (anticipated, £120,000 a year). 

Procedure Open procedure.

Location Orkney Islands, Scotland.

Dates Award of contract, 3 May 2024.

To apply or find out more, see the contract notice

Buyer contact Denise Link, Orkney Islands Council, 01856 873535, Denise.Link@orkney.gov.uk


 

Statue of Sir John Betjeman inside London's St Pancras International train station.
Statue of Sir John Betjeman inside London's St Pancras International train station. Credit: William Barton / Shutterstock

Contract

ST PANCRAS ENHANCEMENT

HS1 is commissioning an architectural survey of the future capacity and optimisation of London’s international rail terminus

Deadline: Confirmation to bid, ASAP. Return of RfPs, 12 noon, 11 April 2024.

HS1, the operator of the UK’s only high speed railway, is commissioning a ‘capacity enhancement’ survey of London St Pancras International station - the UK terminus for Eurostar services from Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

The passenger station was designed by civil engineer William Henry Barlow and opened in 1868. George Gilbert Scott’s Midland Grand Hotel, which lies adjacent to the station, opened five years later. 

HS1 carried out a number of architectural studies around increasing capacity before the pandemic, but now believes ‘many of the assumptions… have changed and proposals need to be reassessed considering the latest information, technological advancements and growth assumptions’.

The rail operator's vision for the station includes being ‘first in class, significantly better than air and maximising the journey time advantages of rail’. The new survey will have three points of focus, which will inform a three-stage programme of works: ‘Optimisation, Future Vision and Path to Success’.

International rail services out of St Pancras International are currently operated by Eurostar, which aims to boost passenger number by 50 per cent by 2025. HS1 says it ‘must also safeguard for the potential of other new international operators entering the market… HS1 is agnostic about where international growth comes from but is keen to make plans and facilitate growth, wherever it may come from’.

Contract deliverables include an executive summary, long-form report addressing all requirements of each of the three stages and a station capacity model. The winning bidder will act as project manager, lead their internal team and organise meetings and fact-finding workshops with HS1 and international operators.

HS1 has the 30-year concession to own, operate and maintain High Speed 1 (HS1), the UK’s only high-speed railway, and its stations: St Pancras International, Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International.

A signed non-disclosure agreement is required from bidders who will then have access to five additional procurement document appendices. Evaluation criteria: 60 per cent quality; 40 per cent price.

Procedure Negotiated procedure via a ‘request for proposals’ (RfPs).

Location Central London.

Dates Interviews, week of 22 April 2024. Award of contract, 26 April 2024. Contract, 6 May 2024 to 31 December 2024.

To apply or find out more, see the contract notice

Buyer contact HS1, 020 7014 2700, procurement@highspeed1.co.uk


 

The Lights theatre in Andover, Hampshire.
The Lights theatre in Andover, Hampshire. Credit: Image by Mike Cattell is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Contract

ANDOVER THEATRE DEVELOPMENT

Architect-led design team sought for new multipurpose arts and community space

Deadline (1st round): 12 noon, 4 April 2024.

Test Valley Borough Council is looking for a multidisciplinary design consultancy (or consortia) to lead a new theatre project in the Hampshire market town. The move follows an £18.3 million Levelling Up Fund award.

Andover is known for its medieval building pattern of long, narrow-fronted plots either side of an historic marketplace, which is still used for regular market days, and its high street of listed Georgian, Regency and Victorian buildings.

The contract covers RIBA stages 2 to 7 and involves the relocation of the town’s Lights theatre, which is currently located on the Andover College Campus to the north of the town, to a large retail unit in the Chantry shopping centre on the High Street.

Works will include new public realm around access routes to adjacent public spaces, which include Waterloo Court and Town Mills Riverside Park, and the redevelopment of the centre itself.  

A concept design RIBA Stage 2 report by AOC Architecture was published in February this year. It says the current facility ‘is in the wrong location to support a dynamic mixed use within the town that encourages footfall’ and that the new theatre in its new location will provide performance and community spaces for a diverse range of arts and community groups, ‘continuing the eclectic variety that has defined its town centre for the past millennium’.

 

Through the project, the council aims to introduce an evening economy that will support local businesses and revitalise the area with more cultural activities and events. Evaluation criteria: 60 per cent quality; 40 per cent price. A fully detailed specification will be available at stage 2. Value of contract is £3.5 million.

Procedure Restricted procedure: pre-qualification questionnaires followed by invitations to tender (number of candidates not specified).

Location Andover, Hampshire.

Other dates Issue of invitations to tender, 12 April 2024. Tender returns, 12 noon, 8 May 2024. Award decision, 28 May 2024. Contract, 10 June 2024 to 31 March 2027.

To apply or find out more, see the contract notice

Buyer contact Dave Owers, Test Valley Borough Council, 01264 368000, dowers@testvalley.gov.uk


 

Applecross Street Basin and old canal buildings, Glasgow Branch, Forth and Clyde Canal. The site is currently occupied by Scottish Canals’ head office and operational buildings.
Applecross Street Basin and old canal buildings, Glasgow Branch, Forth and Clyde Canal. The site is currently occupied by Scottish Canals’ head office and operational buildings. Credit: Image by Rosser1954 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

Project competition

REINVENTING CITIES 2024 URBAN DESIGN CONTEST

Creative multidisciplinary teams sought for climate-friendly redevelopment of 15 brownfield sites around the world

Deadline Dates vary. For UK project, expressions of interest, 2pm, 5 September 2024.

C40, a network of mayors from 100 cities, has launched the fourth edition of its global competition Reinventing Cities. The contest was set up to encourage the decarbonised urban regeneration of underused brownfield sites.

Organisers are looking for creative multidisciplinary teams - including architects, developers and community groups - to design and develop projects that will serve the needs of local communities and become sustainable city landmarks.

Fifteen cities will participate in 2024. They are Almere, Bilbao, Bologna, Brussels, Glasgow, Milan, New York, Palermo, Renca, Rome, San Antonio, San Francisco, São Paulo, Seattle and Venice.

The only site in the UK is at Applecross Wharf and Baird’s Brae in Glasgow and is part of the city’s Canal Regeneration Action Plan. According to the project brief, proposals ‘should utilise the existing heritage buildings in a vibrant way and create an activity node at this important point on the canal. The project presents an opportunity to unlock the potential of the canal to create a further vibrant neighbourhood for people to live, work and visit’.

 

Scottish Canals, which owns the site, says it is keen to work with interested parties to create a suitable financial development model with its contribution to be ‘via land ownership solely, with external funding coming from the project providing development capital and ultimately delivering a suitable return to Scottish Canals’.

Winning submissions across all the brownfield sites in the contest are expected to be ‘highly ambitious regarding environmental and social benefits and go beyond business as usual. To date, Reinventing Cities has engaged over 3,500 businesses worldwide with 40 projects under development globally, demonstrating how urban climate leadership and collaboration with the private sector can enable zero-carbon development to serve the needs of local communities’. The competition is supported by Ingka Group.

Procedure Two-phase procedure. Phase 1, expression of interest. Phase 2, restricted to the finalist teams.

Evaluation panel The jury will be set up by the relevant city with the support of C40.

To apply or find out more, go the competition website


 

Residential homes in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Residential homes in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Credit: Ballygally View Images / iStock

Contract

CAIRNMARTIN PHASE 3 HOUSING, BELFAST

Architect-led design team sought for £5m ‘landmark development with sector-leading sustainability’

Deadline: 3pm, 29 March 2024

Housing association Choice Housing is looking to appoint an integrated design team for Phase 3 of the Cairnmartin social housing development in Belfast. Phase 3, a site transfer project from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, aims to redevelop a 1.84ha brownfield site off the Ballygomartin Road, south of Clarendon Playing Fields for 31 units of wheelchair-accessible social housing.

According to the brief, ‘the specific area to be transferred may vary depending on the competition design and the best use of the site’. Proposed designs, says the buyer, should take a fabric-first and buy-local approach to challenge perceptions of social housing design and delivery: ‘the ambition is for each dwelling to be certified to the Passivhaus (classic) standard and to achieve a minimum EPC rating of A. Additionally, the development should meet enhanced biodiversity requirements’.

Bidding teams will need to include a project architect/lead consultant (preferably Passivhaus certified), mechanical and electrical engineers, civil and structural engineers and principal designer among others.

 

Choice has already built 67 units covering the Somervale Phases 1 and 2 of the project. The association provides approximately 13,000 homes across Northern Ireland and offers housing for families, singles, sheltered accommodation and various models of supported housing for tenants with complex needs. 

Evaluation criteria is 80 per cent quality/social value; 20 per cent cost. Five-year contract. Phase 3 project budget is £4.9 million. Value of contract is £250,000.

Procedure Open procedure.

Location Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Other dates Award of contract, 29 April 2024.

To apply or find out more, see the contract notice

Buyer contact corporate.procurement@choice-housing.org


 

Cambridge Market Square.
Cambridge Market Square. Credit: Pajor Pawel / Shutterstock

Contract

CAMBRIDGE CIVIC QUARTER

Development consortium sought for £1.25m reappraisal of city’s Guildhall, Corn Exchange and Market Square

Cambridge City Council is looking for a development consultancy consortium to develop proposals for the city’s Civic Quarter. Bidding teams are required to draw up design services to RIBA stage 2 for refurbishment and improvements across three main assets: the grade II listed Guildhall on Corn Exchange Street, the Corn Exchange music venue on Wheeler Street and Market Square, which is located on Market Hill. Teams will need to include a commercial adviser, architect, heritage and landscape/public realm consultants, principal designer and other disciplines. The tender consists of two lots: Lot 1 covers The Guildhall, Market Square and Corn Exchange; Lot 2, the Guildhall and Market Square only. Bidders must bid for both lots and a single winning consortium will be selected. Following submissions, the council will decide whether to progress with Lot 1 or Lot 2. According to the brief, proposals are required to ‘maximise valuable commercial use, including office and civic functions (Guildhall), music venue (Corn Exchange) and the Market [and] include a review of long-term operating costs as part of the evaluation and options appraisal’. If the client decides to go ahead (decision expected November 2024), development work will proceed to RIBA stage 3. Bidders are requested to provide fees for RIBA stages 3 to 6 (to handover) to avoid the need to re-procure.

 

Mandatory requirements for the consortium include prior experience of commercialising and re-modelling civic and/or heritage buildings to current sustainability or Net Zero carbon design standards. This is a three-and-a-half-year contract. Evaluation criteria: 70 per cent quality; 30 per cent price. Budget for development services to RIBA stage 2, Lot 2, is £1.25 million. The budget for Lot 1 may be reduced.

Procedure Open procedure.

Location Cambridge.

Deadlines and dates Closing date for receipt of tenders, 12 noon, 21 March 2024. Scored interviews for shortlisted tenderers, week of 8 April 2024. Award of contract, week of 22 April 2024. Contract dates, 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2027.

To apply or find out more, see the contract notice

Buyer contact Jonathan Loneza, Cambridge City Council, 07718 664779, jonathan.loneza@cambridge.gov.uk


 

Winter landscape at Lake Mývatn, northern Iceland.
Winter landscape at Lake Mývatn, northern Iceland. Credit: stockphoto52 / iStock

Project competition

ICELAND SKI SNOW CABIN

Design a warm and inviting pit stop for skiers that contributes to an amazing Icelandic landscape

Competition organiser Buildner has launched a contest inviting architects and designers to create a small-scale haven for the skiing community at a site in Iceland’s Mývatn region. Iceland is Europe's most sparsely populated nation and lies between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean. Its population of less than 333,000 is mostly resident in the capital Reykjavik and its surrounding areas. Known as the Northern Lights capital, the Mývatn region has breathtaking natural wonders, including the Krafla caldera and the volcanic Lake Mývatn, as well as the Diamond Circle travel route. The competition site is north east of the lake, close to the Víti crater and a popular skiing slope. ‘This contest is not just about building a structure,’ says the brief, ‘it's about crafting an experience that embodies the spirit of Icelandic winters… [the] structure should blend functionality with the enchanting Icelandic aesthetic, providing facilities that cater to comfort and practical needs, while also framing the stunning vistas of the surrounding environment.’ Designs need to include a rest and warmth area, equipment check and tuning station, self-service refreshment area, plus viewing deck, toilets and washrooms, storage and ‘snow groomer garage’. According to the brief, ‘the client has expressed their intention to construct the winning design, offering an extraordinary chance for architects to see their skiing cabin concept materialise’.

Eligibility Competition is open to all. No professional qualification is required. Design proposals can be developed individually or by teams (four team members maximum).

Requirements Four A2 landscape-orientated presentation boards (must not exceed 10MB per board) with sketches, renderings, plans, sections, elevations, diagrams and/or other presentation tools (no video) to explain the proposal.

Prizes 1st prize, €5,000; 2nd prize, €2,500; 3rd prize, €1,000; Student Award, €1,000; Sustainability Award, €500.

Registration fees From €85 (students, from €80).

Judging panel Includes Marshall Blecher, MAST; Francisco Garcia de Freitas, Atelier RUA – Arquitectos; Anne Cecilie Haug, Snøhetta; Borghildur Indriðadóttir, Artist on the Moon; Hildur Isdal, Plusark; Søren Leth, SLETH; Tom Schroeder, Patkau Architects; Sigrún Sumarliðadóttir, Studio BUA.

Deadlines and dates Registration, 17 April 2024. Submissions, 11.59pm, 29 May 2024. Winners announced, 3 July 2024.

To apply or find out more, go the competition website

Competition contact contact@buildner.com


 

The Microhome Kingspan edition: 'An opportunity to contribute to the evolution of residential architecture'.
The Microhome Kingspan edition: 'An opportunity to contribute to the evolution of residential architecture'.

Ideas competition

KINGSPAN MICROHOME CONTEST

Buildner launches seventh edition of its international competition looking for radical designs for off-grid small scale architecture

Competition organiser Buildner, in partnership with online platform ArchDaily, is calling for innovative housing ideas that will ‘propel the micro home from a mere architectural form to a revolutionary genre in its own right’. Sponsored by Kingspan, the organisers are asking entrants to design an off-grid home for a young professional couple with a maximum floor area of  25m2. The home can be located anywhere. ‘The competition challenges participants to radically rethink spatial organisation, to introduce distinctive aesthetics and to implement state-of-the-art technologies and materials.’ According to the brief, ‘designs that prioritise sustainability and present solutions to economic, social and cultural challenges through fresh architectural methods will receive preference’. Registration deadline is 29 April 2024.

Ijmuiden, Netherlands. The Tiny House movement offers a return to a simpler life, where people choose to live with less.
Ijmuiden, Netherlands. The Tiny House movement offers a return to a simpler life, where people choose to live with less. Credit: Erik Laan / Shutterstock

Eligibility The competition is open to all. No professional qualification is required. Design proposals can be developed individually or by teams (four team members maximum).

Procedure ‘Participants are required to upload four A2 landscape-orientated presentation boards (board must not exceed 10MB per jpg) with sketches, renderings, plans, sections, elevations, diagrams and/or other presentation tools to explain their proposal.’ See the brief for full details.

Prizes First, €40,000. Second, €20,000. Third, £10,000. Student Award, €10,000. Sustainabilitiy Award, €10,000. Kingspan Award (designs must use at least one specified Kingspan product), €40,000, plus four €5,000 ‘Kingspan Compliments’. Note that one entry has the potential to win both the primary competition and the Kingspan Award.

Registration fees From €150 (students, from €130).

Jury panel Ben Van Berkel, UNStudio; Paolo Flores, Zaha Hadid Architects; Flora Lee, MAD Architects; Martina Martino, Mario Cucinella Architects; Silvana Ordinas, Peter Pichler Architecture; Carlo Ratii, MIT Senseable City Lab; Brent Trenga, Kingspan; David Basulto, ArchDaily.

Deadlines and dates Submissions by 11.59pm, 30 May 2024. Winners announced, 24 July 2024.

To apply or find out more, go the competition website

Competition contact contact@buildner.com


 

For updates on the latest competitions, contests and contracts follow #ribajopportunities @RIBAJ

If you have a competition or contest you want architects to know about, email details to julie.butterworth@riba.org


 

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