Southwark Council have officially announced their multi-million pound architectural design services framework and we are delighted to be flying the flag for the region having successfully been awarded a place. The ground-breaking new scheme has been introduced to help provide public sector opportunities to the most innovative architectural practices across the country and will receive over £10m of annual government funding for the delivery of much needed high quality public projects throughout a variety of sectors.
LHC have acted as the procurement body on behalf of Southwark Council having established themselves as a leading provider of framework agreements for local authorities to deliver public buildings. Following a highly competitive two stage procurement process, we were successfully shortlisted from over 300 applicants and awarded a place within the commercial and industrial category, whereby projects valued between £5m and £20m will be delivered.
The successfully appointed companies were selected based on their experience in innovation and creative design and applicants were required to present case studies which best demonstrated this, with each applicant receiving a score based on the quality of their case studies. We managed to impress the procurement panel with our experience having won the RICS award for innovation with the Tracerco Technology Measurement Centre and demonstrating commercial excellence with the Gateshead Energy Centre, winner of the LABC large commercial project.
LHC have announced that the framework will deliver at least 50 new innovative construction projects over the next two years across a range of categories, including commercial, educational, and housing, with the framework totalling 110 appointed architects. The projects will provide a unique opportunity for Gradon to represent the North East in delivering substantial regeneration and investment projects within London.
Managing Director Graham McDarby said, “We are absolutely delighted to have been selected as one of the architects for this prestigious framework and very proud to be solely representing the North East within such a talented category. Having completed a number of high profile commercial and residential projects previously in London areas such as Hartley Street, Portland Place and Piccadilly, we have been keen to further invest into London and its communities and the framework offers us a fantastic opportunity to do so. With our experience in delivering projects in BIM we are looking forward to working with both LHC and Southwark Council to utilise this experience to benefit the residents of the Southwark borough and represent the North East’s talent within the industry.”
The framework is now live and available for Southwark Council and other local authorities across London to use for procurement of projects ranging in value and across different sectors. Having secured our place on the framework for the next four years, we are delighted to be at the forefront of future development across the capital city.
