Masterplan & Offices for Meath County Council & Navan Town Council Competition

The RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) is administering a competition on behalf of the competition promoters, Meath County Council http://www.meathcoco.ie This is an open, two-stage architectural competition for the development of an indicative master plan and for the design of a new Headquarters Building for Meath County Council and Navan Town Council.

County Meath – Ireland’s Heritage Capital – was once the territory of the High Kings of Ireland. Some of the most important historic sites and monuments are located within County Meath and virtually every important aspect of Irish history from prehistoric times is associated with the county.

Navan contains areas of outstanding natural resources such as the river valleys of the Blackwater and Boyne and built resources such as buildings, bridges, interesting street patterns, mottes, castles etc. The Blackwater River meets the Boyne River on the eastern side of the town at the ancient Poolboy Bridge and many beautiful riverside walks are available along the river. In addition Navan town is identified as the County’s principal administrative, service, industrial, social and cultural centre. The town offers a number of attractions and facilities from shops, cinema, pubs, hotels and restaurants to golf courses and horse racing. Completed in 2006, the architectural award winning Solstice Arts’ Centre includes a 320-seat theatre, three visual-arts areas and a café bar, The Solstice is now hailed as one of the Republic’s most impressive arts venues outside of Dublin.

The proximity of Navan to Dublin has had a major effect on the town’s social and economic development. The population of the town and its environs has increased by 28% since 2002 and the population of the greater area of Navan was 24,851 in 2006.

Meath County Council owns a 2.913 HA (7.2 acre) site on the north side of the town between the N3 and the Blackwater River. It is their intention to develop this site as a focal point for civic activity within the town that will serve to link the town centre to the proposed park and to the walks along the Blackwater River. In addition they are proposing to place two or more key buildings on the site that will support this vision.

Meath County Council Offices are currently located in a number of buildings at various locations in Navan with the main offices in Railway Street just south of Navan Town Centre. The existing building no longer provides a suitable environment for either staff or the public; there is insufficient office and car parking space available. Navan Town Council offices are housed on a separate, very confined, site within walking distance of the town centre. Both the Town and County Councils intend to vacate their existing premises and for a new building to be constructed on the Blackwater River site that will accommodate both Councils. In order to offset some of the costs associated with the construction of their new offices, the Council wish to make available on the site land that will be used by others for the construction of one or more other buildings.

The County Council is therefore now asking for indicative master planning proposals for the development of the site and for design proposals for the Council building in a two stage architectural competition. The master plan should demonstrate the competitor’s overall vision for the site and show how the three dimensional form of the Council and other building(s) relate to their setting. With the exception of the Council building, the type, location and scale of the proposed building(s) are for competitors to decide so long as they comply with the zoning and parameters specified in the Navan Development Plan and the Area Action Plan.

Eligibility

The competition is open to architects holding a qualification listed in the EU Qualifications Directive 2005/36/EC.

In the case of architects eligibility is defined as: Equivalent means a person holding a qualification equivalent to a qualification for the purposes of Article 46 of the European Union Directive 2005/36/EC (Qualifications Directive) to include persons whose qualifications were successfully assessed by the Panel established by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government in 1996 and persons from outside the EU/EEA area. Persons outside the EU/EEA area should include evidence confirmation of registration with a national registration body and/or a UIA recognised professional organisation.

It is the function of the Registrar to decide on eligibility and equivalence.

An entry may be submitted by an architectural practice. In this case the name and address should be given and the official entry form signed by a partner. In this context the practice is defined as; a partnership properly established for the purpose of an architectural competition or an association of architects for the purpose of entering a competition.

Jury

* Tom Dowling County Manager, Meath County Council
* Eddie Breen County Manager, Wexford County Council
* Marguerite Murphy County Architect, Fingal County Council
* John McLaughlin Director of Architecture, Dublin Docklands Development Authority
* Kevin O’Rourke Head of Built Environment, Sustainable Energy Ireland

Prize Fund

Each short listed competitor invited to participate in Stage 2 of the competition will be paid an honorarium of €25,000 for a valid Stage 2 submission.

Competition Programme

Stage 1
* Competition Registration Opens: 28 July 2008
* Withdrawal of Registration and refund of fee: 8 August 2008
* Stage 1 Questions Deadline: 15 August 2008
* Stage 1 Answers Circulated: 29 August 2008
* Stage 1 Registration Deadline: 12 September 2008
* Stage 1 Submission Deadline: 22 September 2008
* Stage One Assessment: September 2008

Stage 2
* Stage Two Opens: October 2008

How to Register

The Registration Form is available in the Competition section of the RIAI website http://www.riai.ie

Download and complete the registration form including payment / payment details of €121.00 registration fee (inclusive of VAT at 21%). Registration forms are accepted via email, fax or post. Email: koneill@riai.ie Fax: 00353 1 6610948 or Masterplan & Offices for Meath County Council & Navan Town Council Competition, RIAI, 8 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Ireland.

A registered competitor may withdraw a registration on or before Friday, 8 August 2008 and will be entitled to a refund of the registration fee. After that date no other refunds can be made in any circumstances whether a valid entry is submitted or not.

We accept Cash, MasterCard, Visa, Laser, Electronic Funds Transfer, Bankers Draft, Euro Cheque and Irish Cheques. Cheques/Drafts should be made payable to the RIAI.

Once we have received a completed registration form with payment, a username and password will be emailed to you. The username and password will allow you to download the competition brief from the RIAI website http://www.riai.ie

Stage 1 submission requirements

Competitors are required to submit one A1 size sheet of information in a horizontal format. There is no specified format for submissions but competitors are required to provide the following minimum information:

a. Site Plan at 1/1000
b. One Key Plan and Key Elevation of the council offices at 1/500
c. All other Plans, sections and elevations of the council offices at 1/1000
d. Sketches to illustrate general massing, treatment and site context
e. Indication of materials proposed and structural system

Stage One entrants are required to present conceptual proposals, incorporating the above minimum requirements, and not detailed proposals.

Each competitor shall also submit a report, which will deal with the architectural, planning functional, environmental and technical factors relevant to the scheme with an Elemental Cost Plan. The report shall not exceed five A4 pages including a one page elemental cost plan.

Enquiries contact:

Karina O’Neill, Competitions Officer, RIAI, 8 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
Email: koneill@riai.ie Tel: +353 1 669 1480 Fax: +353 1 661 0948
http://riai.ie/?id=7336