Top designers queuing up for exhibition road project

18 June 2003

Plans to transform Exhibition Road into a world-class streetscape took a significant step forward this month with 200 designers from across the globe lining up to find out more about this major project.

Competition to select an ambitious designer with the flair and experience to deliver this exciting project now moves to the next stage with 'expressions of interest' due to be submitted by 4 August. The field will then be narrowed down to a maximum of 8 designers before a final selection is made in November of this year.

The project itself, led by the Royal Borough, aims to create one of the finest streetscapes in London. The objective is to re-vitalise one of Britain's most important public spaces by linking together all the great museums and academies of South Kensington.

Around £25 million is the current estimate for the project, making it the largest project in the Mayor's "100 Spaces for London" improvement list. To deliver the plans, a taskforce has been assembled comprised of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster City Council, and the Greater London Authority. The Mayor of London has already signalled his strong commitment to the project by agreeing a grant of £100,000 to fund design costs this year, with a further £350,000 allocated for the following two years.

"I am delighted to support the Exhibition Road project to create a high quality public realm linking these museums and institutions with South Kensington Tube Station and Hyde Park," said Ken Livingstone. "I believe it will be a great benefit to Londoners and London visitors."

The Royal Borough's Leader, Cllr. Merrick Cockell, echoing those comments, said: "The colleges and museums of South Kensington are world-class. We want a world-class designer to help us showcase the area. The field of potential candidates at this stage looks extremely promising."

The project will also include a long-awaited, fundamental redesign of the pedestrian tunnel that takes visitors from South Kensington Station to the great museums.

For a copy of the Expression of Interest Brief, which includes further details of the project, please contact the Group Leader - Transportation, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Town Hall, Hornton Road, London W8 7NX or via email at traffic@rbkc.gov.uk.

For further information contact Press and Public Relations.

Notes to Editors: The project will complement £700 million of capital investment planned for the next ten years by the many institutions that line Exhibition Road. The flagship of that investment programme may be Daniel Libeskind's Victoria and Albert Museum Spiral extension.

Exhibition Road is a legacy of the 1851 Great Exhibition. Proceeds were used to buy 87 acres of the largely undeveloped land that was to become South Kensington. The plan, inspired by Prince Albert, was to create a cultural and learning quarter.

Exhibition Road, Cromwell Road and Prince Albert's Road (later renamed Queens Gate) were laid out to accommodate the world famous institutions that would be built there during the remainder of the 19th century. The area represents Britain at the height of its Imperial, industrial and intellectual optimism, and is talked of as a future World Heritage Site.