Planning and regeneration

Wellesley Road and Park Lane International Urban Design Competition

Introduction

The Wellesley Road and Park Lane development is a milestone in transforming, improving and regenerating the public realm of Croydon. This project requires a forward-looking, world-class team with a deliverable vision. We have embarked on an International Urban Design Competition to ensure that Croydon gets a high-quality space and best value for money.

Project process:

The competition consisted of two stages followed by negotiations.

Stage 1 was the expression of interest and prequalification stage. This concluded with a shortlist of four teams being invited to take part in the design competition. The expression of interest closed at 12 noon GMT on 1 December 2008. Fifty submissions were received:

§                          United Kingdom - 36  

§                          Europe - 9 (The Netherlands 3; Denmark 2; one each from Italy, Spain,  Sweden and Portugal ) 

§                          Other parts of the world - 5 (USA 4; Canada 1)

One submission arrived incomplete and was not considered.

The short listed teams were: 

§                          Edward Cullinan Architects 

§                          James Corner Field Operations 

§                          Hawkins Brown

§                          OKRA Landscape Architects

Stage 2 was the design competition itself. The short-listed design teams received a Stage 2 design document, visited the site and attended a stakeholder forum. They then submitted their competition entries anonymously. The design concepts were presented at a public exhibition at the Croydon Visitor Centre, which had over 500 people visitors. A further 1500 people viewed the designs on the dedicated website, www.croydonthirdcity.co.uk. One hundred thirty-nine people provided feedback on questionnaires.

The submissions were judged by the assessors against the Stage 2 criteria and those of James Corner Field Operations and OKRA Landscape Architects scored the highest. The companies have been invited to take part in a competitive procurement procedure with the aim of appointing a preferred bidder to enter into a contract with the London Borough of Croydon to develop the project.

An estimated value of the investment is in the region of £40-50m and will need approximately six years to be delivered although there may be a simpler solution that delivers many of the benefits at a lower price. The proposed solution will also be capable of being implemented in phases.

The winner:

OKRA Landscape Architects was selected for the provision of design services related to regeneration of Wellesley Road and Park Lane in Croydon.

Download the Cabinet decision below.

Click here to read more about the winning design.