30 July 2013
Winner of BRI façade design competition announced
The winner of the competition to redesign the front of the
Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) has been announced as Nieto Sobejano,
the Madrid-based architectural firm.
The firm's proposed design, 'Veil', was selected as the winning
design by the Board of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation
Trust (UH Bristol) following a recommendation from the panel
overseeing the competition, which includes representatives from UH
Bristol, Bristol's creative community, and art consultancy Willis
Newson.
The panel individually scored presentations
and interviews by each architect and these were collated into a
final consensus score, along with feedback from the general
public.
Robert Woolley, Chief Executive of UH
Bristol, said: "After careful consideration of all three proposals
we believe that Nieto Sobejano's design is the one that most
strongly meets the original aims of the commission, namely to
create a landmark building for Bristol that is non-threatening and
welcoming, enhances the streetscape and public realm, and reflects,
through excellence in design, our reputation for clinical
excellence.
"I'd like to thank the hundreds of people,
including our staff, patients and members of the public, who
provided feedback and ranked their favourite designs, either online
or in person. All of the feedback was considered and the public
vote was given a weight of 20% in the overall score.
"The next steps for us are to explore the
different options we could take to ensure we have the funds to
realise the proposed design and ensure it is maintained over the
years to come."
UH Bristol launched the design competition at the end of last
year when six international artists/architects, including
representatives from Bristol and the UK, put forward design
concepts to improve the appearance of the front of the BRI and
address shortcomings in the fabric of the building.
Nieto Sobejano's 'Veil' design was shortlisted in March
alongside 'Vertical Garden' by Tham and Videgard, architects and
designers based in Stockholm, Sweden; and 'Light and Air' by Solid
Objectives - Idenburg Liu (SO-IL), an idea-based design office in
New York, USA.
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