Submit a design for an East Asian national records office, create an outdoor memorial and commemoration space, submit a current sustainable project for an international prize - some of the latest architecture competitions and contracts from across the industry
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Contest
NATIONAL ARCHIVES MUSEUM, SOUTH KOREA
International competition calling for designs for new £18.6m building that celebrates and stores the republic’s documentary heritage
Deadline: 11am to 5pm Korean time (GMT+9:00), 11 February 2025
South Korea’s National Agency for Administrative City Construction and its National Museum Complex Team have launched a contest for a new National Archives Museum.
The museum will be built within the National Museum Complex at the Culture S-1-10 facility lot in the S1 neighbourhood district of Sejong city, the republic’s administrative centre.
The entire National Museum Complex covers 75,402m2. Other new facilities on the site include the National Children's Museum (completed), the National Museum of Urbanism and Architecture (under construction) and the National Design Museum and National Digital Cultural Heritage Center (at design stage).
Proposed designs for the new National Archives Museum building must have five or fewer storeys above ground and two storeys and a parking area below ground. Maximum height of the building is set at 22 metres.
The National Museum Complex Masterplan design guide stipulates some other mandatory considerations: entry yards revealing the identity of each museum; unification of corridor designs; connection and design of an underground parking lot; linkage of exhibition spaces underground; and sunken courtyards between each museum.
Construction cost is South Korean Won (KRW) 32,889,000,000 (£18.6m), the architectural design fee KRW 1,014,000,000 (£573,000).
Eligibility Domestic architects (licensed architects, including corporations) can participate individually or jointly. Foreign architects (licensed architects, including corporations) must participate by forming a consortium with domestic applicants. Maximum of two people (individuals or corporations) can apply jointly and one of the joint applicants must be selected as the representative applicant and registered. Foreign architects must be qualified in accordance with the laws of their country and their representative must be a domestic architect.
Procedure All entrants must register (see dates, below). Two submissions are required: one for a first round jury review and one for a second. After the first round, five works will be selected for the second round - a presentation evaluation. The submission location is the Government Sejong Convention Center. Submissions must be completed in person by the representative or an affiliated employee at the designated location. Mail or fax submissions are not accepted. Each participant may only submit one work.
Requirements First round: A1 design panel; A3 design description (15 pages maximum), application forms and required documents; representative images, perspective views etc. Second round: 15-minutue presentation; A4 presentation material (30 pages maximum); video (under 1 minute).
Evaluation criteria Creativity of realising a unique design, 20 per cent; National Museum Complex site plan, 30 per cent; National Archives Museum spatial planning, 30 per cent; rationality of the plan, 20 per cent.
Prizes The winner will be granted National Archives Museum design rights and sign contracts for the preliminary and detailed design services. Second place, KRW 40,000,000 (£22,600); third place, KRW 30,000,000 (£16,900); fourth place, KRW 20,000,000 (£11,300); fifth place, KRW 10,000,000 (£5,650).
Jury Panel Jin Baek, Seoul National University; Miok Choi, National Folk Museum of Korea; Junghyun Hwang, Architects H2L; Oscar Kang, Seoul National University of Science and Technology; Kangjun Lee, Hanyang University ERICA; Jongki Park, Soon Chun Hyang University; Sunghoon Yoon, Cheongju University; Homin Kim, Polymur Architects.
Other deadlines and dates Site briefing, 26 November 2024. Registration deadline, 5pm Korean time (GMT+9:00), 11 December 2024. First round jury review, 20 February 2025. Second round, 25 February 2025. Results announcement, 27 February 2025.
To apply or find out more, go to the competition website
Competition
QUEEN ELIZABETH II NATIONAL MEMORIAL MASTERPLAN
MRC announces forthcoming St James’s Park commemorative design contest
Deadline: To be announced
Specialist competition organiser Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) is launching a two-stage restricted procedure competition calling on integrated multidisciplinary design teams made up of architects, artists, landscape architects and engineers to submit ideas for a national memorial to the late Queen. The competition will launch in the coming weeks.
The memorial will honour the late Queen’s 70-year reign and life of public service, ‘offering space for celebration as well as reflection’. The memorial site is in London’s St James’s Park, adjacent to The Mall at Marlborough Gate and includes land surrounding the pathway down to the lake and the Blue Bridge.
Bidding teams should also include digital designers, planning consultants, heritage consultants, project managers and cost consultants. Additional disciplines can be proposed if they are central to the design approach.
The project is being overseen by independent body the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, supported by the UK government and the royal household, and chaired by the late Queen’s former private secretary Robin Berry Janvrin. The Committee is expected to report recommendations to the prime minister and His Majesty The King in 2026.
Procedure Two-stage, restricted procedure (number of candidates to be announced).
Location Central London.
Evaluation criteria and eligibility To be announced.
Requirements and prizes To be announced.
To register for notification of competition launch and to find out more, visit the competition website
Contract
SHEFFIELD CITY CENTRE DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY
Homes England seeks partners for two urban mixed development programmes
Deadline: 5pm, 9 December 2024
The government’s housing and regeneration agency Homes England has prepared a development framework with Sheffield City Council that aims to create ‘two distinct and vibrant urban neighbourhoods, captialising upon their historic and natural assets to create a varied townscape, with a network of new public spaces and streets to improve legibility and connections between the city centre and Kelman Island’.
The two residential-led developments are offered in two lots: Lot 1, Furnace Hill; and Lot 2, Neepsend, both in central Sheffield.
According to the brief, ‘Furnace Hill and Neepsend each have an industrial heritage but inherently different characteristics with the potential for each neighbourhood to provide a distinct and varied residential offer that will play a pivotal role in meeting Sheffield’s housing needs. Homes England is therefore presenting this opportunity for the appointment of a development partner for each site, which can be delivered independently of each other’.
The 2.57ha site at Furnace Hill is part of the northern gateway to the city centre and is made up of vacant land and derelict industrial buildings. However the site also includes designated and non-designated heritage assets, including the Hoyle Street Cementation Furnace, a Scheduled Monument and the last intact cementation furnace in Sheffield, and the grade II listed Don Cutlery Works, a surviving mid-to-late 19th century metal works. This lot has an estimated gross development value of £165 million.
Works at Furnace Hill will include over 800 new homes, 1,900 sqm of non-residential uses, a mix of one, two and three bedroom mid to high rise apartments and maisonettes, the repurposing / transformation of Don Cutlery Works, public realm including a new ‘Furnace Square’ and the opportunity to develop a ‘landmark tall building of exceptional quality’ at the corner of Shalesmoor and Hoyle Street. Duration of the contract is eight years.
Neepsend is located along the River Don near Kelman Island and the 2.5ha development site contains vacant land and derelict industrial buildings along with an operational Wickes store and Westpack industrial building. Heritage assets include grade II listed Cornish Work, which once produced cutlery, plus grade II listed Rutland Road Bridge and Insignia Works. The Kelham Island Industrial Conservation Area extends through the majority of the site.
Works at Neepsend will include 480 new homes, 2,000 sqm of non-residential uses, a range of maisonettes, townhouses, low and mid-rise apartments, the repurposing / transformation of Cornish Works, public realm including a new Artisan Square and riverside walkway and pocket park. This lot has an estimated gross development value of £125 million. Duration of the contract is six years.
For both lots the role of development partner will cover masterplanning and scheme designs based on the framework, preparation, submission and securing of planning approval, securing funding commitments from investors, procuring and managing construction contracts, coordinating the marketing and sale process and managing the development through to completion and sale or exit.
Quality criteria are 70 per cent quality; 30 per cent price. Estimated total value of the two lots is £290 million. Tenders may be submitted for both lots.
Procedure Competitive dialogue: selection questionnaires followed by invitations to tender (maximum three candidates for each lot).
Location Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Other dates Issue of invitations to submit initial responses, January/February 2025. Submission of initial responses, February/March 2025. Invitations to submit tenders, April 2025. Submission of tenders, May 2025. Contract awards, July 2025.
To apply or find out more, see the contract notice
Contract
CITY OF YORK COUNCIL MODERNISATION AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME
Two architectural and three principal designers sought for four-year design services framework
Deadline: 12 noon, 6 December 2024
City of York Council has published a prior information notice / call for competition for a design services framework relating to its domestic and commercial building investment projects and programmes.
The council has a diverse estate that includes independent living schemes, residential detached, semi-detached and terraced properties and bungalows, low and medium rise apartment blocks, managed residential blocks, sheltered accommodation, commercial office buildings, central and local housing team offices, halls, day care centres, libraries, sports halls, museums, conference centres and educational buildings such as schools and nurseries.
The framework is divided into two lots: 1 for architectural designers; and 2 for principal designers. The buyer is looking for a maximum of two candidates for Lot 1 and three for Lot 2.
Architectural designers and principal designers will work across the City of York Council Property Maintenance Department on planned and reactive residential and commercial projects, covering RIBA stages 0 to 7. Services will include residential home modernisation, energy retrofit and decarbonisation, roofing, windows and doors, damp, electrical and fire remedial works, and ad-hoc structural works.
Evaluation criteria for both lots are: quality, 40 per cent; price, 60 per cent. This is a two-year contract subject to two, one-year extensions. Call-offs will be direct or via mini competition. Estimated value is £600,000.
Procedure Competitive procedure with negotiation.
Location York.
Other dates Appointment of suppliers to framework, 17 January 2025. Commencement of framework, 20 January 2025.
To apply or find out more, see the contract notice
Buyer contact Tom Pitts, City of York Council, 01904 551307, Tom.Pitts@york.gov.uk
Project contest
The ‘world’s most significant construction competition for sustainable design’ is now accepting project submissions
Deadline: 14.00 UTC, 11 February 2025
The free-to-enter Holcim Foundation Awards competition showcases projects that contribute to the transformation of the building sector. Its 2025 edition is now open for entries and is calling for projects from anywhere in the world - by teams or individuals.
To be eligible, projects must be client-supported and at late design phase or already under construction (but must not complete before the February 2025 deadline).
According to the brief, ‘The awards, which have run for 20 years, have a strong point of difference in an increasingly busy competition space by empowering architects, urban planners and engineers to submit client-supported projects that have reached the detailed design phase but have yet to be realised’.
The competition covers five geographic regions: Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, and North America. Winning projects will exemplify best practice and diverse innovative approaches to regional challenges relating to sustainable design and construction.
Holcim is a Swiss building materials manufacturer. Its Foundation for Sustainable Construction is an independent non-profit organisation based in Zurich that began its awards programme in 2004. Its mission is to support people who are change accelerators for sustainable construction.
The competition juries are made up of architects, engineers and urban planners who will evaluate submissions in each of the five regions according to the Foundation’s four core goals for sustainable construction: uplifting places, a healthy planet, thriving communities and viable economics. All goals are judged equal in their importance.
Past winners include Feilden Fowles’ and J&L Gibbons’ 2023 Natural History Museum Urban Nature Project in London, which aimed to bring biodiversity back to the city. Also, urban densification residential solution Casa Parásito, Quito, Ecuador, El Sindicato Arquitectura (2021), the community-minded La Quebradora Waterpark, Mexico City, Taller Capital and Manuel Perlo Cohen (2018) and ambitious urban-scale waterfront initiative the Big U, New York, Bjarke Ingels Group (2015).
The awards ceremony will take place in Venice, Italy on 20 November 2025. Representatives from each winning team will be invited (travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by the Holcim Foundation).
Procedure and requirements Registration, entry form, general project information, project authors, climate-related details, construction details, type of intervention and project in m/m2, intervention space used, cost details in USD per m2, how sustainability goals meet the Holcim Foundation’s four core goals for sustainable construction, plus team and project images and architectural drawings.
Prizes Total prize money is USD 1 million. USD 200,000 goes to each of the five regions. The jury will select four winning projects from each region (USD 40,000 each), plus one of the four winners in each region will receive a special recognition prize of an additional USD 40,000, which will be announced at the awards ceremony.
Jury chairs Sou Fujimoto, Sou Fujimoto Architects (Asia Pacific); Kjetil Traedal Thorson, Snøhetta (Europe); Sandra Barclay, Barclay & Crousse Architecture (Latin America); Lina Ghotmeh, Lina Ghotmeh – Architecture (Middle East & Africa); and Jeanne Gang, Studio Gang (North America).
Other deadlines and dates Winners announced, October 2025. Awards ceremony, 20 November 2025.
To apply or find out more, go to the competition website
Competition contact info@holcimfoundation.org
Contract
‘Visionary and innovative’ team sought for £30m two-mile urban coast and public realm project in Northern Ireland
Deadline: 12 noon, 19 December 2024
Ards and North Down Borough Council is looking for an integrated consultancy team to design and manage an urban waterfront and public realm redevelopment project around the city of Bangor in Northern Ireland.
The large seaside city lies 13 miles north east of Belfast on the southern side of Belfast Lough and is part of the Belfast Metropolitan area. It is the third largest urban development in Northern Ireland.
This project is one of five included in the broader tourism-led and Belfast Region City Deal-funded Bangor Waterfront Redevelopment programme. This project aims to transform a two-mile stretch of waterfront between Skippingstone Beach and Banks Lane, Ballyholme, and ‘uplift, connect and rejuvenate the entire waterfront route and provide a strong foundation for the seamless integration of the other four, interdependent constituent projects’.
According to the brief, ‘the project site extends across five diverse character areas, each requiring its own site-specific, sensitive and sustainable design response, to address existing deficiencies and unify the waterfront route through interconnected spaces, buildings, facilities, place making initiatives and public realm improvements’. The areas are Skippingstone (north of Pickie Fun Park), Bangor Marina and Harbour, Seacliff Road (including the Long Hole), Kingsland and Ballyholme Promenade and adjoining areas.
The project covers RIBA Stages 0 to 7 under a six-year contract. Bidding teams must include at least one of the following core disciplines: urban design and masterplanning consultant, architect or landscape architect. Estimated value of the contract is £2.5 million. Estimated build cost is £30 million.
The wider redevelopment programme aims to establish Bangor as a destination of choice, ‘a place where residents and visitors alike can enjoy exceptional recreational, cultural and commercial experiences’. The four other projects will be procured separately and will cover Pickie Fun Park, Bangor Marina & Harbour Wetside, Ballyholme Yacht Club Watersports Centre, and Bangor Courthouse (Phase 2).
Procedure Restricted procedure: selection questionnaires followed by invitations to tender (six candidates).
Honoraria Each team invited to tender that presents to the evaluation panel will receive £7,500.
Location Bangor, Northern Ireland.
Other dates Shortlist, January 2025. Return of tenders, March 2025. Award of contract, May 2025.
To apply or find out more, see the contract notice
Buyer contact Stephen Brennan, Ards and North Down Borough Council, procurement@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk
Contract
LONDON ARCHITECTURE DESIGN SERVICES FRAMEWORK
New four-year agreement aims to build engagement between capital’s public sector clients and a diverse range of architects
Deadline: 12 noon, 17 December 2024
Not-for-profit central purchasing body LHC Procurement Group has announced a new multi-lot four-year framework (ADS2), which it hopes will revolutionise the delivery of architectural services across London.
According to the brief, the agreement is designed to ‘improve lives and places for residents, be an enabler for a collaborative design for the future of London, and to simplify the route to market (for public sector contracts) for uncompromised excellence in architectural design services’.
The framework builds on the legacy of its predecessor, ADS1 and ADS1.1, and covers RIBA stages 0 to 7, from strategic definition to handover and use.
There are seven lots: Lot 1, Masterplanning; Lot 2, Education and Public Buildings; Lot 3, Homes (value band 3a, £0 to £20 million; value band 3b, £20 million+); Lot 4, Retrofit and Decarbonisation Design Services; Lot 5, Modern Methods of Construction; Lot 6, Public Realm and Landscape; Lot 7, Micro and Small Architects.
All lots are for four year contracts (with an option to extend for two additional 12-month periods) and have award criteria of 80 per cent quality; 20 per cent cost.
Tenders may be submitted for a maximum of three lots. Micro and small practices can bid for a fourth lot, Lot 7, which is reserved for those bidders only. To be eligible, practices must prove an annual turnover cap of £1 million. Lots 1 to 6 have two spaces reserved for smaller practices and eight spaces open to all.
Calls-offs under the framework will be direct or via mini competition. Membership of the Architects Registration Board is a mandatory requirement for this framework. Estimated total value of the framework is £75 million.
Procedure Open procedure.
Location London.
Other dates Notification of outcomes, 20 May 2025. Commencement date, 30 June 2025. Framework launch events, late July 2025.
To apply or find out more, see the contract notice
Buyer contact Paul Smith, LHC, 07960 002929, paul.smith@lhcprocure.org.uk
Contract
UNLOCKING BROOMFIELD PARK FOR THE COMMUNITY
Call for landscape architect-led team to work on £2.5m upgrade of historic north London park
Deadline: 2pm, 29 November 2024
Enfield Council is looking for a multidisciplinary team with diverse expertise and a focus on conservation to carry out design and planning work on an unused area of historic grade II listed Broomfield Park in Palmers Green, London.
The centrepiece of the park is grade II listed 16th century Broomfield House, which sits in an original walled garden. The house has been subject to four major fires since the 1980s and has been covered in scaffolding for nearly 40 years. In 2023 the council brought in conservation structural engineers to assess the stability of the building to determine if anything could be retained and how it could be safely dismantled and memorialised.
According to the memorandum of information, ‘The park itself features formal lakes, with a later boating pond to the north, a walled enclosure, a pavilion and facilities including a bandstand, Garden of Remembrance, conservatory, sports courts, bowling greens, a community orchard, a children’s playground, an outdoor gym and a community cafe. Many of these have been added in the 20th century as the park was adapted to a public park’.
The Unlocking Broomfield Park for the Community project aims to turn the park into a flagship local icon ‘known for its historic landscape, heritage assets, natural environment and community provision’, community growing spaces, orchards, wildlife and gardens.
This commission covers RIBA stage 2 to delivery and focuses on four areas in the council’s 2016 Conservation Management Plan: ‘Upper Lake and Walled Frontage, Middle Lake and Walled Frontage, East Lawn adjacent to the house and Garden southern axis. It will also dismantle and memoralise… Broomfield House, stitching this part of the park back into the wider historical park’.
Services required are: landscape architect, conservation architect, hydraulic/water/drainage engineers, heritage consultant, principal designer, conservation structural engineer, scaffolding specialist, mechanical and electrical engineers, ecologist, access consultant, interpretation planner and designer, planning consultant, archaeologist, sustainability consultant and tree specialist.
The commission is in two stages: Development (RIBA stages 2-3) and Delivery (4+). The first stage is funded by a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant; the second by a delivery grant from the Heritage Fund, capital funding and a community fundraising campaign.
Contract duration is 56 months, subject to a break clause at the end of stage 1. Retention of the design team is subject to performance and ongoing funding.
Tender evaluation criteria are 70 per cent quality, 30 per cent price. Estimated value of the contract is £320,000. Estimated project cost is £2.5 million.
Procedure Restricted procedure: selection questionnaires followed by invitations to tender (number of candidates not specified).
Location North London.
Other dates Issue of ITT, 13 January 2025. Deadline for submission of tenders, 12 February 2025. Notification of outcome, 25 March 2025. Contract, 21 April 2025 to 20 October 2029.
To apply or find out more, see the contract notice
Buyer contact Samantha Rose, London Borough of Enfield, sam.rose@enfield.gov.uk
Contract
Call for multidisciplinary teams to quote for four ‘super-green town’ infrastructure projects
Deadline: 12 noon, 28 November 2024
South Oxfordshire District Council is inviting landscape architect-led multidisciplinary teams to quote for the design of four blue/green infrastructure enhancement projects.
Didcot is 15 miles south of Oxford on the Great Western Railway mainline. It was awarded garden town status in 2015 and has several significant housing and commercial developments in the pipeline, including the non-residential expansion of the former Didcot A Power Station and the potential development of the town centre and Broadway main street.
According to the brief, ‘across Didcot there is a variety of existing green open spaces that range from small woodlands to closely managed parks and playing field facilities. Some areas of the town, particularly the older central Didcot area, are more densely populated with fewer natural green spaces on the doorstep. It is one of the aspirations of the newly adopted Green Infrastructure Strategy that all residents should have access to restorative green space within a 15-minute walk of their home’.
This procurement aims to enhance and connect Didcot’s existing assets and foster a sense of place that delivers a ‘super-green town’.
The four projects are split across four zones and include creating a biodiversity corridor, improving access to - and connectivity between - green spaces, nature reserves and parks and establishing zones for play, exercise, food growing and public art. Also required are safety improvements to sight lines, lighting and signage and the provision of spaces for girls.
The works cover RIBA stages 2 to 6 and include detailed design, planning applications and preparation of tender documents, which may include art commissions.
According to the brief, bidding teams will need to be made up of: landscape architect / lead consultant / project manager; quantity surveyor; planner; ecologist; hydrologist / drainage engineer; and public art commissioning specialist. The team will also need to commission any necessary surveys.
Evaluation criteria are 50 per cent quality; 50 per cent price. Total budget for the design and implementation of the four projects is £500,000.
Procedure Open procedure.
Location Didcot, Oxfordshire.
Other dates Award decision, by 5pm, 10 January 2025. Contract, 21 February 2025 to 31 December 2025.
To apply or find out more, see the contract notice
Buyer contact Andrew Lewis, 07874 893611, andrew.lewis@southandvale.gov.uk
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