Begbroke design competition shortlist announced

Oxford University Development Ltd (OUD) has announced the five shortlisted entries to the Begbroke design competition it launched in November last year.

The eventual winner, to be announced in March, will design the masterplan that will guide the development of the area around Begbroke Science Park into a world-leading new innovation district.

The £1bn project is planned to cover 190 hectares and will create a community of up to 2,000 high-quality new homes, as well as schools, communal facilities and a public park and nature reserve. It will also expand the existing Science Park to provide a superb new location for innovation and collaboration between University researchers and the private sector.

The shortlisted teams now go through to the second phase of the competition, and will produce much more detailed designs to expand on the visions set out in their first-round entries. Those entries can be viewed on the Estates Services website.

The shortlisted teams are as follows, with the lead consultant listed first in bold:

Allies and Morrison; Mecanoo (Netherlands); Gort Scott; DK-CM; Hargreaves Jones (USA); BuroHappold; Systematica (USA); HR&A (USA)
Carlo Ratti Associati; Outcomist; Martha Schwartz Partners; Ove Arup & Partners; Studio 20-20; Groupwork Architects; Tsuruta Architects; Theatrum Mundi; Fabienne Nicholas; Mobility in Chain; Soundings; Indeed Innovation (Germany)
Grimshaw; Hoare Lea; BuroHappold; Logika Consultants; McGregor Coxall; Jas Bhalla Architects; Openstudio Architects; XCO2
Hawkins Brown; OKRA (Netherlands); BuroHappold and C:Lab; RCKa; Ooze (Netherlands); Ecological Land Cooperative; Wordsearch Place
Prior + Partners; The Place Bureau; Alison Brooks Architects; Wilkinson Eyre Architects; dRMM; Gillespies (Oxford); Spacehub; Ramboll; Stantec; Hoare Lea; Keith Orlesky; Philipp Bouteiller; Pooran Desai; Transition by Design (Oxford); Transsolar (Germany); Usman Haque; Jonathan Rose Companies (USA)

The jury panel selected the shortlist from an extremely strong field of 40 entries. The successful teams scored highly against the stage 1 criteria of creative ability, problem definition, collaborative thinking, communication skills, and the overall diversity and inclusivity of the team.

‘We were inspired by the high quality of the entries and excited by the potential of Begbroke outlined by the teams,’ commented Anna Strongman, CEO of OUD. ‘Practices and collaborations grasped the challenge of creating a place of world-leading research alongside a community calling Begbroke home. We look forward to engaging with the short-listed teams to explore ideas further in stage 2.’

OUD is a property development company set up under the £4 billion joint venture between the University and Legal & General, which will enable the University to meet its strategic commitments to create at least 1,000 new units of graduate accommodation, 1,000 new staff homes as well as new innovation districts at locations including Begbroke and Osney Mead. OUD’s responsibilities include producing the design for each development project, consulting with local stakeholders and communities, and applying for planning permission.

All 40 longlist entries can be viewed on the design competition website.