News
More than 550 firms register their interest in international design competition
13th August 2008
More than 550 companies from across the world have registered their interest in an international design competition to create inspirational public spaces in six town centres in Lancashire.
The brief for Pennine Lancashire Squared will be launched this Friday (August 15) in Nelson, but the competition has already attracted interest from more than 40 countries, including China, Australia, India, Venezuela, Vietnam, Iran, Serbia and Peru. Further interest has come from Qatar, Norway, Jordan and Croatia.
Pennine Lancashire Squared aims to find the best landscape architects and public realm designers in the world to create outstanding high profile spaces at the heart of six towns in Pennine Lancashire – Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn, Bacup, Clitheroe and Nelson.
The competition is the brainchild of Yvette Livesey and her late partner, music mogul, Anthony H Wilson. Their report, Dreaming of Pennine Lancashire, coined the term Pennine Lancashire for the former mill towns of East Lancashire, which are now undergoing a physical and cultural renaissance.
Livesey and Wilson were commissioned by Elevate, a regeneration agency which works with partners from the public and private sectors to revitalise the housing market and improve the image of the former mill towns of Pennine Lancashire.
The Chief Executive of Elevate, Max Steinberg, said today: “We are delighted by this response to the competition, which has clearly already captured the imagination of designers across the world. The interest reflects the importance of the competition, which will raise the profile of the entire area and see the creation of world class examples of public space design.”
The Landscape Institute, the chartered body for landscape architects, is running the competition, with the endorsement of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The competition has received funding from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and is being implemented by the Boroughs of Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale, with support from Lancashire County Council. CABE Space is providing ongoing support for the development of Pennine Lancashire Squared.
The competition will be run in two stages. Stage one is a call for expressions of interest and stage two for concepts. Judging for stage one will take place in September and see the selection of up to five design teams per site. Chair of the Northwest Regional Development Agency Steven Broomhead will be the guest speaker at the launch of the competition, along with chair of the judging panel Stephen Hodder MBE.
