St Luke’s Area Design Competition – Islington

Sponsor: Islington Council

Type: RFQ, 2 stage

Location: Islington, UK

Design Challenge: The Council is launching a design competition to appoint an exemplary team of designers to redevelop the Finsbury Leisure Centre site. The winning team will go on to develop detailed designs and a full planning application for the site.  

The design competition builds on the St Luke’s Area Planning Brief adopted by the Executive in October 2014. The Brief explains how any future proposal will need to deliver much needed new leisure and community facilities, affordable homes and improved public space. Importantly, the Council wants to deliver an exemplary civic building that will bring together leisure, childcare, healthcare and local energy production under one roof. A copy of the Brief and the accompanying consultation report can be found below.  

The design competition will be run over two stages. During Stage 1, organisations or consortia will complete a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ). The PQQ asks organisations and consortia to set out their previous relevant experience to undertake the commission. Up to five organisations or consortia, which score the highest and meet our requirements, will be invited to participate in the design competition (Stage 2). 

During Stage 2, up to five organisations/consortia will be asked to prepare tender submissions. The tender submission must include a design submission, a number of method statements setting out how they would develop detailed designs, and a pricing schedule setting out how much they would charge for developing detailed designs.   

Once submitted, the design submissions will be displayed at a public exhibition. Members of the public will be able to view and comment on the designs. Comments will be made available to the Council’s evaluation panel, which will choose the winner of the competition. The exhibition is expected to take place in early 2016 and last for approximately four weeks. 

The winning organisation/consortium is expected to be announced in spring 2016. The design team will then begin work on turning their design submission into a detailed design and full planning application for the site. It is expected to take around 18 months to prepare detailed designs and a full planning application. If planning permission is granted, construction could begin as early as summer 2018.  

If you would like to find out more, please contact Adam Barnett by email at Adam.Barnett@Islington.gov.uk or phone on 020 7527 2987 or Eshwyn Prabhu at Eshwyn.Prabhu@Islington.gov.uk or phone on 020 7527 2450.  

For more information, go to: http://www.islington.gov.uk/services/planning/plan_brief_major/Pages/st-lukes-area.aspx