London Bridge public realm design competition

The London Festival of Architecture and Team London Bridge have announced a design competition to improve a pedestrian triangle outside London Bridge station. As London Bridge becomes one of the focus areas for this year’s London Festival of Architecture, the competition will create a lasting legacy for the area: improving the appearance of the streetscape and assisting wayfinding in front of the station, which has recently undergone a £1bn redevelopment.

The design competition is aimed at architects, designers and artists, who are invited to submit a design concept that will use visual clues and public realm infrastructure to transform the busy but unremarkable space on Tooley Street. The site is on routes to several major London landmarks: the riverside, City Hall, Southwark Cathedral and Borough Market. However, none of these key locations are immediately visible, and many people need to re-orientate themselves. In the context of funding from the Mayor of London, the project will promote clean air routes that people can easily choose to use over major routes that are more polluted.

The competition will be judged by a panel including Jonas Lencer (director, dRMM), Jack Skillen (placeshaping director, Team London Bridge), Tamsie Thomson (director, London Festival of Architecture) and Matthew Hill (head of highways, Southwark Council).

Following a public exhibition of shortlisted entries in June, the winning team will be revealed in July 2018 to develop a fully costed, feasible design that can be installed subject to planning consent. The total project budget is £23,000 + VAT.

The deadline for submissions is 3.00pm on 5 June 2018. Further information for entrants is available in the brief here (pdf) and appendix here  (pdf).