Four shortlisted design teams (erect architecture, We Made That with Free Play, Studio Weave with Wayward Plants, and Kinnear Landscape Architects) have been selected to take part in the second stage of the Three Mills Play-space Competition. This selection was made following an open call for expressions of interest from those interested in proposing designs for a new play-space at Three Mills Green located in the borough of Newham, East London.
The competition, which is being organised by The Architecture Foundation on behalf of a collaborative Partnership including the Olympic Park Legacy Company, The Legacy List charity and the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (who own the land), solicited over 60 submissions of interest from practices and design teams from around the world.
The four short-listed practices were selected primarily on the basis of design skill and capability, track record of success and their strong portfolios of work. Design teams will now be asked to respond to a detailed brief that calls for innovative and imaginative designs that look to stimulate creative ways of playing. Proposals will be detailed to RIBA Stage C and will be submitted by 19 September.
Shortlisted entries will be judged by a high-profile jury including Neil Porter, Director, Gustafson Porter; Sarah Weir, Chief Executive, The Legacy List; Eleanor Fawcett Head of Design, OPLC; Ron Arad, Director Ron Arad Associates; Rob Cairns, Head of Environmental Design, LVRPA, Sharon Cox, Early Intervention, Play Manager, LB Newham and play expert Tim Gill, Writer/Researcher, Rethinking Childhood.
The winner will be announced at The Legacy List launch event in September 2011 with the intention of construction of the play-space to commence on March 2012.
Three Mills Green is situated immediately south of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park close to Bromley-by-Bow, Stratford High Street and West Ham. It has recently been renovated by the Park Authority and Design for London as one of the Mayor’s Great Outdoors programme. It is an invaluable part of the 26-mile long Lee Valley Regional Park, and forms one of six proposed parks along ‘The Fatwalk’, a planned walking and cycling route from the Olympic Park to the Thames.
For further information, please visit www.architecturefoundation.org.uk/programme/2011/design-competition-three-mills-play-space