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Restoring Railway Viaducts in Central London

Cross River Partnership (CRP) and Spacia, the UK's largest landlord for small business and a division of Network Rail launch an international competition for design ideas for a network of railway arches in central London. The competition is being managed by the RIBA Competitions Office.

This initiative forms part of a wider work by CRP to transform the railway viaduct running from Vauxhall to Bermondsey in a far-reaching project called Light of the End of the Tunnel (www.crossriverpartnership.org). The vision is to reduce the dissecting effects of the extensive viaducts which carve through riverside central London in an area also known as London South Central, a strategic regeneration area which includes Vauxhall, Elephant & Castle, London Bridge and Tower Bridge. By making the viaduct less of a barrier, pedestrians will find it easier to move from one side to the other. At the same time, it will act as a catalyst for economic development by allowing employment in the commercially let arches to increase by encouraging a greater variety of uses.

In the London South Central area alone there are almost 1,000 railway arches, amounting to 10km of viaduct, with more than 250,000 sqm of space within it. Three sites have been chosen for the purpose of the competition, in Waterloo, Vauxhall and London Bridge. Exact details will be given in the brief. All are indicative of the types of spaces available, and as well as looking at the sites in question competitors will be asked to look at how they may impact on the areas surrounding them. Although promoted as an ideas competition, the promoters may consider implementation if the competition products a solution with good potential.

The competition, while seeking site specific responses, is concerned with major urban and regeneration issues, and aims to be a far reaching initiative, aimed at unlocking the huge potential inherent in the project.

Assessment Criteria

The judges will assess against the following criteria:

.. Design - overall response to the site/s and the brief and the visual impression of the scheme/s

.. The ability to generate a novel idea or design concept that helps to stimulate the renewal of the viaducts in London South Central

.. Balance between the heritage aspects of the viaducts and the need to create modern, appealing spaces

.. Feasibility of design proposals. (Although this is an ideas competition, competitors should recognise the need for an element of financial and commercial realism).

Competition Format / Timetable

Key dates are as follows:

.. Brief available - w/c 28 February 2005

.. Site visits - 15 March 2005

.. Submission deadline - 22 April 2005

.. Assessment - w/c 25 April 2005

.. Results and public exhibition - w/c 9 May 2005

Entries will be submitted and judged anonymously.

Jury Panel

The panel is as follows:

.. Ian Campbell, Head of Spacia

.. George Gillon, Member for Corporation of London

.. Paul Evans, Director of Regeneration, Southwark Council

.. Councillor Brian Palmer, Lambeth Design Champion, Lambeth Council

.. Dr Savas Sivetidis, Director Cross River Partnership

.. Hannah Finch, Corporate Affairs Manager, Network Rail

.. Keith Williams, RIBA Architectural Adviser

Prize Money

1st Prize - £8,000 ; 2nd Prize - £4,000 ; 3rd Prize - £2,000.

Eligibility

The competition is open internationally to registered/qualified architects, engineers, landscape or urban designers. Team submissions are welcome.

How to Register

To register and receive the competition brief send a cheque for £35.00, payable to RIBA Competitions. The registration fee is inclusive of VAT. The brief includes details on all three sites and entitles competitors to submit an entry for one or all of the sites.

Enquiries

All enquiries should be addressed to the competition organisers:

RIBA Competitions Office

6 Melbourne Street

Leeds LS2 7PS

T : 0113 2341335

F : 0113 2460744

E : riba.competitions@inst.riba.org

W : http://www.ribacompetitions.com