RIBA - General - Light at the End of the Tunnel
Date: 06 May 2005
Some 53 architectural practices from across the globe have entered a competition to transform central London's railway viaducts.
Launched in February, the 'Light at the End of the Tunnel' competition seeks creative and viable architectural ideas for restoring London's Victorian railway viaducts and has attracted some exciting entries from high profile architects.
Created by Cross River Partnership (CRP) and Spacia, the competition is being managed by the Royal Institute of British Architects and forms part of a wider strategy to transform the viaducts which carve through riverside central London south of the river.
Led by CRP and Spacia, the UK's largest landlord for small businesses, this regeneration programme aims to reduce the dissecting effect of the viaducts and restore the railway heritage to create a new business corridor capable of employing up to 12,000 people. From Vauxhall to London Bridge alone, there are ten kilometres of viaduct housing almost 1,000 railway arches, and containing more than 250,000 sq m of space.
A panel of judges, which includes representatives from CRP and Spacia, will assess entries and select the winners which will be announced at the end of May 2005. All designs will be judged anonymously.
Ian Campbell, Director of Spacia, said: "We have been impressed by the level of high quality responses and international interest the competition has generated. The viaduct is an important part of the Capital's railway heritage and needs thoughtful and careful restoration to retain its unique character while creating new and interesting commercial premises for SMEs.
"I am looking forward to reviewing all the entries in detail and selecting winners which meet this brief. We have the chance to create a new and exciting economic corridor in London and the fantastic response to the competition means that we have world-class architects designing creative solutions to lead the regeneration of this strategic area."
The winning entries will be announced at an award ceremony on 25 May where the three winning designers will be presented with prize money totalling £14,000. A public exhibition featuring the entries will be held from 26 May to 28 May in Spacia's railway arch development at Wootton Street, near Waterloo.
Savas Sivetidis, Director of CRP, said: "Restoring the railway viaducts which thread through some of central London's most deprived areas are one of the capital's greatest regeneration challenges. The results of this competition, which has attracted imaginative and fresh ideas from around the world, will set a design standard worthy of a world-class city."
Commenting on the entries, chair of judges and RIBA Adviser Keith Williams added: "The judges were very encouraged by the diversity and quality of the response to such a challenging brief."
'Light at the End of the Tunnel' forms part of a wider regeneration plan for the London South Central area, a strategic regeneration zone bounded by the river, including Vauxhall, Elephant & Castle, London Bridge and Tower Bridge. The brief presented competitors with a choice of three specific sites in Vauxhall, Waterloo and London Bridge which entrants were required to create design proposals for.
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