Purpose

External appointment of architect is required to develop RIBA Stage 3 designs for the refurbishment of underutilised office buildings on The Bottle Yard Studios site for a new Creative Campus and Skills Academy. This is required to progress the project and ensure delivery is achievable within the required window for the grant funding that is being sought.

Decision

Approval for officers to commission and instruct architects Atkins, Walters, Webster Ltd, through Constellia, to undertake RIBA Stage 3 design work for the South Bristol Creative Campus and Skills Academy project.

Alternative options considered

It is not possible to undertake this work with in-house resource due to lack of resource availability and technical skills required to complete the work. An alternative would be to not commission the work, which would result in the project being unable to progress and being unlikely to be successful in attracting capital investment.