Teams Register for Design Competition for New Parliament Building

The design competition for the construction of a new Parliament building has entered its first stage.

Providing an update today (July 20) at a JIS ‘Think Tank’, Senior Project Manager at the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), Leighton Whyte, said that 37 teams consisting of more than  200 persons have registered to participate in the competition, which was launched in May 2018.

“There has been overwhelming support for the competition, which is fully endorsed by the Jamaica Institute of Architects,” Mr. Whyte said.

At this juncture of the competition, participants will be required to submit their designs between July 20 and September 17.  During this phase, all entries will be assessed by an evaluation jury comprising industry experts and professionals.  The jury will then select the top-five entries to advance to the next stage of the competition.                 Construction of  a new parliament building forms part of the National Heroes Park Redevelopment and Government Campus Project,  part of a master plan to redevelop downtown Kingston.

General Manager of the UDC, Dr. Damian Graham, who also addressed the ‘Think Tank’, said the general public will be kept abreast of the process, and there is every intention to keep the communication going.

He revealed that meetings have been held with the Member of Parliament, Councillors and other stakeholders within the vicinity of the proposed location, in order to engage them in the process.

Dr. Graham noted that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed with the Social Development Commission (SDC) to go into communities to do the social intervention, which will begin with a needs assessment.

“This will entail going from house to house talking to persons on their verandah, to get an understanding from community members on what are their current needs and concerns and how we should tailor the execution of the project to ensure that their lives are better,” he said.

Dr. Graham is reassuring the public that the philosophy of the Government is for communities to be enhanced; therefore, the UDC’s role is to make development happen while making people’s lives better.