Government Architect Ben Hewett believes the design competition for the old Royal Adelaide Hospital (ORAH) site represents a radical new direction for the State Government – but says the media hasn’t quite understood what it’s all about.
Hewett spoke about the competition launch on Radio Adelaide’s architecture and planning show The Plan, which today launches a new collaboration with InDaily Design. Every fortnight, InDaily will run a podcast of the show, which you can also hear live on Wednesdays, 6pm, on 101.5FM.
In last week’s interview, Hewett said the two-stage open ideas competition for the old RAH site was “not about winning the job – this is all about what’s possible”.
The international design competition follows on from the extensive community engagement work carried out by the Integrated Design Commission (IDC) through the 5000+ project and the Integrated Design Strategy for Inner Adelaide. As Hewett said, it’s about learning from the process and amplifying the work done around the 5000+ and Speculations projects.
The ORAH competition will also feature “live feed” commentary from the community via blog posts and twitter streams as the competition rolls out. To me, it’s an entirely new and laudable government approach – design-led community consultation which has the opportunity to respond in real time to live, ongoing discussion.
From stage one of the competition, six teams will be shortlisted and paid $100,000 each to refine their schemes for stage two. The competitors get to take on board all the relevant feedback from the ongoing community discussions and inject it into their schemes for the final submission. The open-format competition is extraordinarily comprehensive in its inclusiveness and, as such, is doing everything possible to ensure the best design outcome.
The ORAH competition presents a tremendous opportunity for local designers to establish connections on an international platform and also to amplify the resonance of our local talent. It’s a win-win situation for Adelaide – the former Royal Adelaide Hospital occupies a site of tremendous importance to the city and, as such, requires a response of global significance.
That’s not to say that the winning entry can’t be a local designer; it simply shifts the potential exposure and outcomes to an international platform. Stage two of the competition insists that international entrants (teams) must partner up with local practices. The Government is determined to see all the capital stay in South Australia.
The really exciting thing is seeing these significant Government developments being led by an informed and tested design process. The ORAH Open Ideas competition again positions Adelaide as a design leader on a national and international platform. Local designers now need to seize the opportunity.
To listen to the podcast, just click play below.
