A competition inviting architects to submit their proposals for the future of Twickenham Riverside will be launched later this year, with the public invited to have a say on their concepts next spring.

At a Council meeting on Tuesday, September 11, Cllr Gareth Roberts announced that an architects’ competition would be held to help inform the future design of Twickenham Riverside.

This follows the withdrawal of the Planning Application, agreed locally in March 2018 for the Twickenham site.

Further details regarding the competition are currently being worked up. However, it is anticipated that following the publication of a design brief for the site, architects would be invited to come forward, and following a ‘pre-qualification’ process, to ensure that architects have the experience, expertise and track record to be part of any future commission, eligible architects would submit their proposals.

All proposals will be published for public review next spring.

A Twickenham Riverside Design Group will also be established, to include community representation, who will judge each proposal and consider residents’ views.

Over the next few months the council will engage with local groups and stakeholders on the future programme.

Further information regarding the design competition and Twickenham Riverside Design Group will follow later in the Autumn, when Scrutiny Committee will review the proposed process.

Cllr Gareth Roberts said: “Over the past few months we have reviewed the process that has been carried out so far to inform the future of Twickenham Riverside.

“We believe that we can do better for Twickenham. So, we are going to create a new site brief, one based on all the feedback heard so far, and include the voices that have so far gone unheard.

“We will then publish this, inviting professional architects to interpret this vision in a way that will be visionary for Twickenham, responds to the needs of local people and sympathetic to the local area. We won’t be cherry picking architects. We will be asking residents views on all the submissions.”