Decision details

Direct award of contract to provide multi-disciplinary design-led services in support of the Down Lane Park Improvement Project to Levitt Bernstein Associates Ltd, using the Notting Hill Genesis Framework.

The contract will cover masterplan development and detailed design of priority projects, up to a maximum value of £497,659 + VAT.

The Down Lane Park Improvement Project was paused in July
2021 to enable a change in approach and pivot to more
active and in-depth resident collaboration, working within a
co-design model. Co-design, with a focus on direct community
participation, was not part of the original tender for services in 2020. Thus, the council made a formal decision in November 2021 to appoint a new consultant team with demonstrable experience of working successfully within a co-design model, to build the confidence of the community and secure buy-in to this revised approach.

This new co-design approach commenced in January 2022, with a series of capacity building workshops with a newly convened Community Design Group, supported by a specialist enabler and facilitator. The project now needs to move into the design phase, to:

• Maintain momentum and positive engagement with the Design Group and local stakeholders who are keen to see tangible and swift progress made on improvements to the park
• Align with live and interfacing projects (Decentralised Energy Network delivery) and successfully resolving interfaces with adjacent development sites
• Demonstrate that progress is being made on this project and safeguarding identified s106 (developer) contributions, which make up the current project delivery budget of £2.97m.
Levitt Bernstein Associates are a Haringey based, established, and award-winning architectural practice with a broad portfolio ranging across urban design, master planning, education, health, arts, housing, commercial, and landscape design, including parks. They have strong experience and a successful track record of participatory community centred design and co-design.
Allied to successful experience of participatory design, Levitt
Bernstein has the capacity and ability to mobilise quickly
responding to a strong desire amongst elected Members, key
stakeholders, and funders, for the Down Lane Park
Improvement Project to make up for time lost whilst the project
was under review in 2021 and for it to progress at pace.

Levitt Bernstein also has valuable existing knowledge of
Tottenham Hale and Down Lane Park, having been the lead
consultant on the Ashley Road Depot scheme which bounds
the northern edge of Down Lane Park.

The decision to make a direct award via a Framework
Agreement, responds to the programme considerations detailed above and the exacting requirement of the commission, including blending landscape and building architectural skills with a specialism in community centred participatory design models. By using the Notting Hill Framework (which allows for Direct Award of contracts) a fair process is ensured with pre-qualified consultants in a cost and time effective manner for the overall benefit of the project.

Do Nothing – if multi-disciplinary design-led services are not procured the Down Lane Park Improvement Project cannot progress and time limited S.106 (Developer Contributions) cannot be utilised and over time and may be at risk if not allocated or defrayed in a timely fashion. Given the strong political commitment to the project from the two lead Cabinet Members, and the expectations of key stakeholders, the community and funders, there would be significant risk to the Council’s reputation and partner relationships locally if no appointment is made and the project is unable to progress.

Four alternative options were considered:

Option 1: Inviting the runner up in the original May 2020 tender exercise to take the commission forward. This was discounted on the basis that the runner up in the original tender exercise had bid and been assessed against a scope of requirement and evaluation criteria that does not align sufficiently with the revised (co-design) approach to the project.

Option 2: OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) open tender exercise via the Council’s Dynamic Purchasing System. This was discounted on the basis that a fully OJEU compliant open tender exercise typically takes 4-6 months to conclude, which is at odds with elected Members, key stakeholders, funders, and the wider community’s desire to make up time and see rapid progress, particularly so given the hiatus in 2021.

Option 3: Running a competitive tender exercise via an established procurement Framework, e.g., the GLA’s Architecture Design and Urbanism Panel (ADUP). This was considered carefully, and a review undertaken of available Framework Agreements and the participative, co-design experience of the architectural practices in the relevant Lots. Whilst a number were felt to have the right blend of landscape and building design experience, it was harder to identify those who also have a strong track record of successful co-design and delivery of projects of a similar nature, scale, and complexity.

Option 4: A single supplier direct award from an established compliant Framework. This option was selected on the grounds that Levitt Bernstein Associates are able to meet the specific and exacting requirements of the commission in a timely fashion, whilst also providing value for money.