In order to be considered for the project, candidates must submit a compliant Expression of Interest. Candidates who intend to submit an EoI must register to receive a Unique Registration Number (URN) by completing the form within the registration section.
Expressions of Interest are invited from teams based in the UK and Europe which should include (as a minimum) the services of an acoustic consultant and building services engineer together with any other specialists the applicant considers may be necessary to service the contract. As per the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, the design team should include provision of an organisation or individual with sufficient knowledge, experience and ability to perform the role of Principal Designer with responsibility for co-ordination of Health and Safety during the pre-construction phase. The College wishes to appoint a Lead Consultant who understands the complexity of the challenge and assembles a multi-disciplinary design team who can deliver the vision for the completion of the dining hall project.
Architects must have the right to practice in the country where he/she is qualified or in the country where he/she currently resides or practices. UK-based applicants should therefore be registered with the Architects Registration Board (ARB) with overseas-based applicants registered with an equivalent regulatory body. Architects with more limited experience in the delivery of relevant projects may wish to consider collaborating with another practice, but the proposed delivery arrangement should be clearly articulated in the submission return.
This is a call for Expressions of Interest only. The Client is not bound to accept any offer resulting from it. Nothing in this Preliminary Briefing Paper is to be construed as implying commitment by the Client that it will award a contract. Any expenditure, work or effort undertaken is accordingly a matter solely for the commercial judgement of the Applicant.
Applicants are responsible for obtaining the information which they consider necessary in connection with the Competition and must form their own judgement on its validity and suitability. Each Applicant must make its own independent assessment after making such investigations. The subject matter of this Preliminary Briefing Paper shall only have a contractual effect when it is incorporated into the express terms of an executed contract.
The Client is not obliged to accept any submissions or enter into any contract pursuant to the Competition and reserves the right in its absolute discretion to withdraw from or terminate the process set out in this Preliminary Briefing Paper at any time, for any reason and without prior notice to the Bidders and at its sole discretion re-invite proposals on the same or any alternative basis.
The Client does not make any representations or warranties (express or implied) or accept any liability or responsibility (other than in respect of fraudulent misrepresentation) in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, reasonableness or completeness of the information in this Preliminary Briefing Paper or any part of it (including but not limited to, any loss or damage arising as a result of reliance by the Applicant on the information or any part of it).
Interested teams are invited to submit an Expressions of Interest which should be comprised of no more than 19 single sides of A4 (or double-sided equivalent) not counting a contents page, formatted as below:
Front Cover
The front cover should bear the name of the lead organisation, proposed consultant firms from other required design disciplines, together with the Unique Registration Number [S#] issued by RIBA Competitions.
Declaration and Confirmation of Insurances Held Form
The Declaration and Confirmation of Insurances held form (issued by RIBA Competitions on registration) should be duly completed and incorporated immediately after the contents page. As well as asking the lead organisation to confirm the level of insurance protection held by the organisation, this form also asks applicants to confirm that none of the grounds for mandatory or discretionary exclusion referred to under Section 57 of The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 apply to the organisation, see: The Public Contracts Regulations 2015
Brief introduction and Motivation for Applying
A (maximum x1 single side of A4) commentary outlining the organisation’s approach to design, preliminary thoughts about the Somerville College Project, motivation for applying and any specialist skills it would be able to bring to the project.
Team Composition
A brief introduction (maximum x1 single side of A4) should be provided to outline the lead firm’s experience, who is expected to act as lead consultant together with brief CVs (maximum x2 singles sides of A4) for members of the practice that would be responsible for leading, developing and potentially delivering the design concept. Projects undertaken at a previous practice may be included but the role in developing and delivering the scheme (design team leader, project architect etc.) must be clearly outlined.
The anticipated delivery arrangement should be clearly articulated, with specific delivery arrangements if the project is remote from the firm’s principal location. If a collaborative approach with another architect firm is proposed, the anticipated delivery arrangement should likewise be clearly articulated.
A4 summary sheet of Consultant team
A4 summary sheets with CV’s of identified consultant (x1 single side of A4 maximum per required firm) should be provided for each of the principal consultant firms who would form part of the proposed design team. Details should be provided of any previous projects on which the proposed consultant firms have collaborated.
CVs will be evaluated as a package. Greater weight will be given where reference is made to the contract example case studies where possible. If a collaborative approach with another firm of architects is proposed, the respective roles and anticipated delivery arrangement must be clearly articulated.
Relevant projects delivered by the lead organisation
Illustrative case studies (images with explanatory supporting text) should be provided for (up to) two projects (maximum x2 A4 single sides each), from either the public or private sector, that are relevant to the Somerville College dining hall Project requirements. These projects should demonstrate the character and experience of the lead organisation.
Any images featured within the submission should be clearly annotated to explain to which projects they refer. A distinction should be clearly made between photographic images of completed projects and computer-generated visualisations.
Applicants should consider the relevance and relative merits of projects within their firm’s portfolio, together with the selection criteria against which these will be assessed. Whilst the inclusion of an ‘incomplete’ project (i.e. a project that is on, or about to commence on site) as one of the illustrative case studies would not deem the submission unacceptable, it may, depending on the stage that it is at, limit the ability of its qualities to be appraised.
In addition to representative illustrations and sketches, the following information should be provided for each case study:
Professional capability of lead architect firm
One of the case studies presented in response to “relevant projects delivered by the lead architect organisation” or an additional third case study should be expanded upon to demonstrate:
This is primarily intended to be a graphic response. Brief explanatory notes may also be provided to further explain the rationale and drivers behind the final realised design, The expanded case study should be presented on up to a maximum of x3 single sides of A4.
| Front Cover | Maximum 1 single sheet |
| Declaration | Maximum 1 single sheet |
| Brief Introduction and Motivation for Applying | Maximum 1 single sheet |
| Team Composition including CVs for Lead Consultant | Maximum 3 single sheets |
| A4 summary sheets of consultant team | Maximum 6 single sheets |
| Relevant Projects delivered by the lead architect firm (maximum 2 projects) | Maximum 2 single sides per project, Maximum 4 sheets |
| Professional capability of lead architect firm (maximum 1 project) | Maximum 3 Sheets |
| Total | Maximum 19 sheets |
The Expression of Interest must be submitted in English. Any financial data provided must be submitted in or converted into GBP Pound Sterling. Where official documents include financial data in a foreign currency, a pound sterling equivalent must be provided.
The EoI document should be submitted as a PDF via the RIBA Competitions digital submission portal (RIBAsubmit). A total upload limit of 20mb will be available, but candidates are requested to keep file sizes as small as practicable whilst ensuring that the information presented is readily legible. A secure link for this purpose will be sent to the email address entered into the online registration form used to request your Unique Registration Number.
The file name should consist of the URN [S#] assigned by RIBA Competitions, together with the name of the architecture firm:
#URN_Lead_Firm_Name_EoI.pdf
Any other appended files should follow a similar file–naming protocol.
Candidates are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with RIBA Competitions’ digital submission portal and allow sufficient time for their Expression of Interest to successfully upload in advance of the deadline. The portal system will not allow material to upload after the deadline has expired.
The deadline for receipt of the EoI Returns is 14:00 Mon 16 March 2020. The Client and RIBA Competitions will not be responsible for an EoI returns delayed, lost or otherwise damaged or corrupted during transmission, however so caused. Late submissions will not be accepted without prior authorisation.
The Applicant must confirm whether there has been any material change in relation to the information submitted at the Expression of Interest phase. Where some material change has occurred, the Applicant must provide updated equivalent information to that requested in the Preliminary Briefing Paper.
The Client reserves the right to disqualify any Applicant where there is a material change to any aspect of its response to the Expression of Interest if such Applicant has failed to notify the Client of such change or, having notified the Client the Client considers the effect of the change is such that the basis of the evaluation for the purpose of selecting potential participants, the Applicant would not qualify.
In accordance with Regulation 24 of the Public Contract Regulations 2015, the Client may exclude the Supplier if there is a conflict of interest between the Client and the Supplier or a member of the consortium or a key sub–contractor which cannot be effectively remedied.
The concept of a conflict of interest includes any situation where relevant staff member have, directly or indirectly, a financial, economic or other personal interest which might be perceived to compromise their impartiality and independence in the context of the competition.
Where there is any indication that a conflict of interest exists or may arise then it is the responsibility of the Supplier to inform the Client, detailing the conflict in a separate Appendix. Provided that it has been carried out in a transparent manner, routine premarket engagement carried out by the Client should not represent a conflict of interest for the Supplier.
The information supplied with this brief and all other information whether written or oral made available at any time to Candidates by or on behalf of Somerville College in connection with this procurement (“Information Provided”) is provided on the basis that the Candidates, their sub–contractors and/or respective advisers will keep such Information Provided confidential at all times and that such information will only be used for the purpose of participating in this procurement. For the avoidance of doubt nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a Candidate from passing the Information Provided to its employees, potential sub–contractors and professional advisers in connection with this procurement provided such persons agree to treat such information as confidential in accordance with the duty described in this paragraph. The duty of confidentiality in this paragraph does not apply to information:
The objective of the selection process is to assess the responses to the Preliminary briefing paper. Reponses will be used in the evaluation process to determine teams’ qualification for inclusion to proceed to the next phase of the competition. Each submission will be evaluated in the same manner as per the methodology outlined in this section.
Somerville College reserve the right to ask lead organisations to provide information to demonstrate their economic and financial standing if they are Invited to proceed to Phase 2 of the competition.
It is anticipated at this stage that, on appointment, the successful architect team will be required to have or obtain Professional Indemnity Insurance cover of GBP £1 million in respect of the project. Candidates who do not currently hold the required Professional Indemnity Insurance cover will, if shortlisted, be asked to separately identify within their phase 2 submission any additional costs in increasing their Professional Indemnity cover to the required level.
The Evaluation Panel will appraise the Expression of Interest returns against the following criteria:
| Selection Criteria | As evidenced by |
|---|---|
| Overall experience and balance of the design team, including proposed key personnel responsible for leading, developing and potentially delivering the design concept, together with proposed consultants from the other design disciplines | Team composition and Brief CVs for key members of the team demonstrating professional qualification, recent project experience, current position and proposed role within the team. Reference should be made to the contract example case studies where possible |
| Experience of transforming the quality of space with innovative acoustic, lighting and ventilation solutions. | Case studies |
| Experience of working with listed buildings and of designing appropriate building solutions within conservation areas or other sensitive contexts to secure planning permission. | Case studies |
| Ability to design and deliver projects of distinction with similar challenges, scale and/or budget to the Somerville College Project in time and on budget. | Case studies |
(subject to change)
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Niall McLaughlin | Niall McLaughlin Architects |
| Michael Whitcroft | Acoustician. Associate Director, Hoare Lea |
| Richard Todd | Partner, Bidwells |
| Andrew Parker | Fellow, Treasurer & Domestic Bursar |
| Prof. Charles Spence | Tutorial Fellow, Experimental Psychology |
| Prof. Daniel Anthony | Tutorial Fellow, Experimental Neuropathology |
| Prof. Benjamin Thompson | Tutorial Fellow, Medieval History |
| Prof. Almut Suerbaum | Tutorial Fellow, Medieval and Modern Languages |
| Hannah Raithby* | RIBA Competitions (observer only) |
*An RIBA Representative will not score but will attend the meeting to document the process and provide procedural support.
In the event of a panel member being unable to act through illness or any other cause, Somerville College, in consultation with RIBA Competitions, reserves the right to appoint an alternative panel member.
Shortlisted teams will be invited to proceed to the design phase of the competition based on the scoring set out above. It is anticipated that this will involve:
Information available to teams at the Phase 2
The following documents will be made available at phase 2:
The competition seeks to select a preferred team on the basis of design, value and potential deliverability within the anticipated budgetary constraints.
| Award Criteria | |
|---|---|
| Overall quality of the design concept including appropriateness to the listed dining hall | |
| The proposals ability to meet the brief’s aspirations in relation to acoustics, lighting and ventilation. | |
| Capacity to manage and deliver the project within budget and to programme, including demonstration of a sufficient level of resourcing to deliver the quality and scope of design services required | |
| Submission of a competitive fee proposal (broken down per RIBA work stage) to deliver the quality and scope of design services required | |
Appointment of the preferred team will be subject to approval from the Project Board and the Colleges’ Governing Body. The Client reserves the right not to proceed beyond the competition stage in the event that no one scheme meets the requirements and aspirations in respect of the project. All honorarium payments will however be paid as indicated.
It is anticipated that up to 5 teams will be invited to the design phase of the competition. Each tendering organisation who submits a compliant tender for the competition phase and gives a clarification interview presentation will receive an honorarium payment of GBP £6,000 (+VAT). The Client will undertake to make the honorarium payments within 30 calendar days of the clarification interviews and on receipt of Invoice. No payments will be made in respect of the EoI phase. All invoices should be addressed and sent to RIBA Competitions.
The ownership of copyright will be in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 – i.e. Copyright rests with the author of the submitted design.
The winning team will provide services identified in the RIBA scope of works for stages 1 to 7 and shall fulfil the role of Principal Designer (CDM Regulations, 2015).
The organisation shall appoint all sub-consultants necessary to complete all the phases of the project including design development, planning application, tender design information and construction.
The RIBA Stage 1-3 appointment will be on a lump sum fee basis which is to include for all disbursements for all aspects of the project other than Local authority Building Regulations and Planning Fees. RIBA stages 4-7 will be a percentage of the £400k +VAT construction cost which is inclusive of project design fees.
The dining hall will be closed in September 2020 for 9 months as the kitchens are due to be refurbished. It is therefore proposed that the acoustic, lighting and ventilation work will be undertaken on the hall during that time.
Participants will be required to maintain confidentiality throughout the procurement process and not identify themselves; the names of short-listed participants; or the names of successful or unsuccessful bidders; or release any design proposal images etc. to any third parties or media outlets until after an official announcement has been made.
Once any anonymity restrictions or embargoes have been lifted, authors of all proposals will be duly credited and recognised in all associated media publicity.
The competition is being managed by RIBA Competitions. Members of the Evaluation Panel and Client body representatives should not be solicited for information as this may lead to disqualification from the competition. All queries relating to the Expression of Interest phase should be submitted via email to riba.competitions@riba.org and contain Somerville College in the ‘subject’ header line. Candidates should refer to the Competition Timetable regarding the latest deadline by which to raise queries.
The intention will be to make advice arising from queries received available to all Candidates via the email address entered into the registration form, where doing so is in the interest of maintaining transparency and fairness in the procedure and would not constitute a breach of commercial confidentiality.