Shortlist announced: Bentley Community Library Competition

The shortlist is announced for the competition to design a new community library facility in Bentley, Walsall.

Walsall Council was delighted by the response to the competition that attracted 72 Expressions of Interest from architectural practices in the UK, Europe, Sri Lanka and the United States of America. The Jury Panel, which consisted of representatives from the local community, Walsall Council and an RIBA Adviser (Chris Haddon, Haddon Few Montuschi), faced an extremely difficult task in selecting a short-list from a strong field of entrants. The Panel short-listed practices which they felt had best demonstrated their ability to produce a high quality design and engage with the local community and other stakeholders to ensure a sense of pride and ownership in the library building, which will set a precedent for future developments in Bentley.

The six short-listed practices (in alphabetical order) are as follows:
- Aaron Evans Architects
- Fashion Architecture Taste (Fat) Ltd
- Featherstone Associates
- McMorran and Gatehouse Architects Ltd
- Panter Hudspith Architects
- Sjolander da Cruz Architects

Jury Panel member Cllr. Adrian Andrew (Walsall Council cabinet member for regeneration) commented: ‘We live in very exciting times and I’m sure that we will have a new landmark building in Bentley to be proud of. We have the iconic New Art Gallery here in Walsall so we are no strangers to landmark buildings. One of the really great things about the Bentley Library project is that there is a tremendous amount of community participation. That’s important as they are the ones who will live and use the building. However, this is not just about working in partnership with the community. This is also Walsall Council working together as regeneration and libraries staff work together as well.’

Members of the public will be invited to comment on the design proposals when they are subject to anonymous public exhibition in late January 2008. Comments raised will be used to help inform the Jury Panel’s decision when the teams present their schemes at a final interview in early February 2008. The winner of the competition will initially be commissioned to develop their design proposal up to RIBA Stage D.