Briefing Paper - Expressions of Interest sought for a Designer of the Yeovil Vision Flagship Playspace

This project provides the opportunity for the successful designer to create a destination site that will be a visitor attraction for the whole of South Somerset and its 156,000 residents. Following a successful application to the Big Lottery Funds Children’s Play Programme, South Somerset District Council (SSDC) is in the position to bring forward the development of a Yeovil Vision Flagship Playspace at Yeovil Recreation Centre. This briefing paper provides background information about the project, details of the selection process and the project milestones.

Project Background

As part of the development of SSDC’s Play Policy & Strategy, which was formally adopted in March 2007, the following objective was established:

“Working with partners create a Flagship Playspace that models best practice and incorporates appropriate levels of supervision during peak use times”.

The SSDC Play Policy & Strategy can be found on the following web address www.southsomerset.gov.uk/playpolicy

• At SSDC’s February meeting of its Area South Committee it was resolved that the Flagship Playspace should be located at Yeovil Recreation Centre.
• In June 2007 SSDC was awarded a Children’s Play Programme Grant to develop a portfolio of three projects including a Community Play Officer, Play Rangers and the development of a Flagship Playspace.
• In July 2007 SSDC’s Executive Committee resolved to fund £150,000 of the cost of the Flagship Playspace from the Yeovil Vision Budget.
• The Yeovil Vision has set out a clear agenda for the future of the Yeovil area beyond 2011 (up to 2026) on the basis of a community led approach. The Yeovil Vision has established six priorities and the development of the Flagship Playspace is objective No.6. See the Yeovil Vision web site for more details www.yeovilvision.co.uk.

Project Scope

The Flagship Playspace is intended to model good practice and incorporate appropriate levels of supervision during peak use times. The key attributes of the playspace will be its free open access status, the high level of accessability and a creative, sustainable and inclusive design. The playspace must provide an environment in which children can play freely, test their boundaries and become a venue where other play providers can gain knowledge to create high play value environments in their communities.

The location confirmed for the playspace provides opportunities to create a destination site that will be a visitor attraction for the entire district. Based in Yeovil, which is the main settlement of the district, the project will be easily accessible to the towns 43,000 residents and over 8000 children.

The high profile location aims to raise awareness and encourage change by practically demonstrating how the Best Play Objectives and Enriched Play Environment Criteria can be achieved. The site will provide a venue for play work to take place to enhance the play experience and through an adult presence increase the feeling of safety thus increasing accessibility to all.

The location identified for the playspace will see the replacement and enlargement of the existing play area and will create a new area more than 2500msq in size. However, the exact size and shape of the Flagship Playspace has yet to be agreed.

The design of the playspace is expected to focus more on use of the natural environment for play with hard and soft landscaping. The use of some manufactured play equipment has not been ruled out but this will not be the main focus of the construction.

 One of the main reasons for choosing the location has been the excellent infrastructure that is already in place for users benefit. There is a large car park for visitors travelling long distances, toilets with baby changing are on site including disabled toilets, the playspace is covered by CCTV for security, the park keepers office overlooks the site, refreshments are already available during the spring & summer and changing rooms can be made available if demand is required. The location is well served by Yeovil’s bus station and is situated in the middle of a large residential area.

Our portfolio has identified the need to make more use of the natural environment and landscape for play. The Criteria for an Enriched Play Environment in our Play Strategy sets out how we can go about making better use of the natural environment, but at this time we have no tangilble examples to showcase this new way of working. Creating a Flagship Playspace will deliver this tangilble resource in a fully accessible location in a way that is sustainable for the local authority and its partners.

Yeovil Recreation Centre has also been identified as the preferred location of the Sports Zone Project – a £21m Sports and Leisure Complex. Please see the Sports Zone web site for more details about this proposed project.

www.southsomerset.gov.uk/yeovilsportszone

Site Photos

Agreed Big Lottery SMART Outcomes

The following SMART outcomes have been agreed with the Big Lottery and the design must therefore contribute to their achievement:

• By June 2009 we will have provided one Flagship Playspace, which will practically demonstrate to other play providers a playspace that offers a high quality and high play value experience.
• By June 2010, 60,000 visitors of which we expect 20,000 to be children, will access a Flagship Play Space in which they will be able to test their boundaries, be challenged and take risks through play.

Requirements of the Designer

The designers’ role will include:

• Final consultation with the local community, stakeholders and partners
• Assisting with the production of a design brief
• Working with the project group, you will develop a robust, deliverable design and specification within the project budget for the Yeovil Vision Flagship Playspace
• Producing a selection of drawings of the project including; scale plan views, construction/technical detail, 3D artist impressions, cross sections and levels drawings. 
• Assisting with the production of tender documents to allow the competitive tendering of the construction elements of the project.
• Providing onsite and offsite guidance during the construction phase of the project to ensure implementation of the design is achieved.

Project Budget

The project budget is £297,000, which includes all professional fees, construction costs, contingencies and inflation proofing. The designer must set out in the pre-tender questionnaire their requirements for professional fees and this will form part of the selection of the successful applicant.

Criteria for Selection

The selection of a designer will be in two stages

Stage One

Designers that express an interest will be required to complete and submit a Pre-Tender Questionnaire. The submitted Pre-Tender Questionnaires will be assessed by the project group on the following criteria:

• Quality of previous work;
• Relevance of previous work;
• Fee to complete the project;
• Suitability of applicant;
• References;
• Financial stability.

Using the results of the Pre-Tender Questionnaire assessments a short-list of the best submissions will be established by the project group and those designers will be eligible to participate in Stage 2 of the selection process.

Stage Two

Those designers short-listed will be required to attend a selection day which will include a site visit to Yeovil Recreation Centre, a 10 minute presentation by each designer, a formal interview and an short written test.

The observations and results from the selection day will be used by the project group to select a preferred designer, however, if no designer is considered suitable the project group will reserve the right to not select a designer from the shortlist and will re-evaluate its options at that time. 

Project Group

The Project Group has responsibility for appointing the designer and making any other decisions necessary to the project within the agreed limits of the Big Lottery Application and SSDC guidelines.

The Project Group is expected to include:

Further Information

Prospective designers that would like more information about this project are asked to contact:

Robert Parr, Senior Play & Youth Facilities Officer, SSDC, The Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil, Somerset, BA20 2HT. Tel: 01935 462413, Fax: 01935 462165, E-mail: rob.parr@southsomerset.gov.uk