Chance to give your ideas and win a prize
An ideas competition has been launched to ignite debate about how Wimbledon town centre could evolve and prosper over the next 15 years.
Merton Council and Love Wimbledon want to hear ideas from community groups, residents young and old, built environment specialists and businesses in the borough, about what Wimbledon town centre could look like, what amenities it should have and what type of buildings and public spaces could be developed in future.
The council is encouraging people who wish to take part in the competition to submit their ideas in whichever format they prefer. Entry deadline is 5pm on September 15, with judging in w/c September 22.
Poems, songs and abstract sketches are just as welcome as scale plans or 3D animations. A schools competition is also planned for later in the year.
Shortlisted entries will be showcased on the futureWimbledon website in October. The competition, which was launched on Friday (July 4), follows last year's futureWimbledon conferece.
The competition is being run in partnership with the Design Council and New London Architecture (NLA). A-listers in the design and architectural world, including, Wayne Hemmingway, Paul Finch, Alison Brooks and Morag Myerscough, will be judging the entries this autumn.
The competition includes the following two categories:
Rising Stars: For individual practices, urban designers, town planners, architects, landscape designers and soon to be qualified professionals in these disciplines. First prize for this category is £3,000 and the opportunity to be a design champion working for at least 18 months with Love Wimbledon and the council’s regeneration team futureMerton. A further £2,000 will be available for other entries judged to be exceptional.
Creative Communities: For individuals or groups who have something to say about Wimbledon town centre. There is no requirement for professional qualifications, just great ideas. In this category, the judges will decide which entrants will share £2,000 prize money for community projects.
Judges will be looking for innovative ideas to tackle traffic management, environmental sustainability and ways of creating a quality urban environment where people live and work.
Ideas may also consider the future of high street retailing, growing the local economy, promoting inward investment and considering how Wimbledon station may evolve as a world-class transport interchange as part of the Crossrail 2 proposals. Ideas about these issues and others that are generated by the competition will be showcased in the New London Architecture galleries and will inform the vision and brief for a town centre masterplan to be commissioned by Merton Council in partnership with local business and community groups in 2015.
Merton Council's cabinet member for environmental sustainability and regeneration Councillor Andrew judge said: "We want Wimbledon to be the best place it can be: The most vibrant and attractive town centre in outer London. This competition is a unique opportunity for everyone locally to contribute their ideas about the future shape of this place we love.
"We have great heritage and culture, but we also have new tech companies and innovation. Wimbledon is already on the world stage and is a successful place for business and jobs and has a vigorous community and cultural life. But no town or city can stand still. We want Wimbledon to become even better as a great place to live and work.
"There are many people in Merton who are full of creative and innovative ideas. We want to harness them all so we can ensure Wimbledon has that bright and dynamic future in which it can play its part fully in London’s creative, technology and business success."
Love Wimbledon manager Helen Clark Bell said: "Wimbledon is an architecturally eclectic mix of shops, offices, homes and transport. This competition allows us to build on that mix discovering new ways and ideas to help us create an exciting masterplan for the future."
Designer Wayne Hemmingway said: "As it stands future generations are going to look back at what we have let happen to our town centres and wonder ‘what the dickens were that generation thinking?’ We know we need modern town centres fit for purpose – to live, laugh, dance, eat, drink, work and shop. This is an unrivalled opportunity to get the combined brainpower of a generation of creative designers and architects focused on the ideas which will underpin modern lifestyles. I am looking forward to seeing what they come up with."
Design Council trustee, Paul Finch said: "This is a great opportunity to demonstrate the wealth of talent and innovation in current UK architecture, to people passionate about creating town centres that communities will enjoy for years to come. I encourage practices of all sizes to think about this competition as a showcase for their urban ideas."
There are sponsorship opportunities for both the Schools Competition which promotes to a Merton Borough audience and sponsorship opportunities for the Ideas Competition. If you are interested in sponsoring the event please contact info@lovewimbledon.org.
All the information about the competition and judging criteria can be found at: www.futurewimbledon.co.uk.
The winners will be announced at a Design Talk evening, part of Wimbledon Bookfest, on October 8. Other key dates are below:
Monday September 22: Judging takes place
Wednesday October 8: Winners announcement at Wimbledon Bookfest
Thursday October 9: NLA exhibition opens in the Building Centre, Store Street (just off Tottenham Court Road)
Friday November 7: Exhibition closes.
What do you think? Why not comment on our forum?
July 7, 2014