In June RIBA revealed their plan to create a brand new Clore Learning Space at their 66 Portland Place headquarters in London. The fourth floor of the building will be transformed into a new studio, study room, terrace, and exhibition area. These facilities will be used by children, young people, adults, life-long learners, and full families, allowing them to engage in a variety of activities.

The project will be challenging and require a creative design to make the most of the space. The existing commercial architecture is Grade II* Listed so designs will need to complement it and work within strict boundaries.

A design competition was launched along with the publication of the brief. Initially RIBA Chartered Members and Chartered Practices were asked to register their interest and submit an outline proposal for how they would approach the project. In total 47 submissions were received. From these RIBA chose the five best.

The five shortlisted companies were revealed at the start of August. Incredibly Coffey Architects found our name on the list. This means we, along with AOC Architecture, Delvendahl Martin Architects, Featherstone Young, and Hayhurst & Co, get to move on to creating and submitting our design proposals. A lead architect and design team will be chosen following judging of the proposals.

The project is an exciting one and will give the architects a chance to help RIBA achieve their strategic objective to improve engagement with architecture and bring the field to life for learners of varying ages. It will provide dedicated spaces for things such as workshops, talks, creative activities, and exhibitions of work.

We are excited to get a chance to be involved in such a great project. It will also be great to have the opportunity to see how the commercial architecture of the fourth floor of 66 Portland Place can be improved.

The winner will be chosen based on a series of criteria. Judges will be looking at things like the quality of design, the value, the viability both technically and financially, and how well the requirements of the brief have been met.