Procurement via the Mayor of London’s Architecture, Design and Urbanism Panel (ADUP) is guided by a policy commitment to ‘ensure excellence’ in the way that architects are appointed. So what does it take to make a bid stand out and win the day, in a process that sets out to define procurement best practice?
The ADUP was renewed earlier this year, with sixty architects’ practices having won a place on a framework divided between 14 ‘lots’, ranging from masterplanning to public art. The standard ADUP procurement route for public sector clients (who are not restricted to just London authorities and agencies) is to begin with mini-competitions between practices in the relevant lot. This year, for the first time, a weighting has been applied of 70% Technical (quality), 25% Financial (cost) and 5% Equality, Diversity & Inclusion for the evaluation of bids.
Some of the best-known firms in the UK won places, so they should already be pretty switched on about bidding. Yet Rae Whittow-Williams, who acts as one of the GLA’s panel leads, describes the ADUP process as ‘educational’ for consultants and clients alike. Given that quality already far outweighs cost, the areas in which bids can best stand out, explains Whittow-Williams, are in the response to the brief. This should always be very place-specific, showing a real understanding of what the project is trying to achieve, a realistic and achievable methodology, and the achievement of social value.
Quality assurance and project management skills and relevant experience are also evaluated under the Technical heading, but the key area that many practices will be less familiar with is how to present a statement of an approach to achieving social value. Social value continues to move up the procurement agenda, particularly in the public sector. The ADUP User Guide encourages the adoption of an approach to local engagement, participation and co-design; designing for present and future users and community needs; and collaboration with groups historically under-represented in the authorship of the built environment.
Whittow-Williams suggests that the key is a full, not merely token, engagement with the community and an explanation in the bid of how this will take place. This can also extend to outreach initiatives within the project, such as local apprenticeships and the involvement of schools, and using local skills and suppliers.
‘Social value can be used to steer a project, and it fosters a sense of trust and ownership in the local community,’ she says. ‘It has been demonstrated that social value can bring many benefits to a project, from a better passage through planning to simply producing a better-quality scheme. It becomes very obvious, when opening bids, who understands social value and who doesn’t.’
The 5% weighting for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion is also novel for a lot of clients, and Whittow-Williams reports that there was a push-back from some clients at first; although, since its introduction, feedback has been positive.
Assessment is initially based on a diversity statement/policy that applies to the practice and project team, but Whittow-Williams points out that the weighting also opens the door to collaborations with other practices, perhaps BME or female-led young practices, and so provides opportunities for young and emerging practices to access a wide range of public sector projects. The only rule is that the panel member must receive the majority of the design fee.
It is still relatively early days for ADUP version two, which only confirmed its consultant panel members in April this year. But interest has been growing among London boroughs and other public-sector clients who did not use the previous framework.
The ADUP framework can be used by any housing association, local authority, NHS or education body and many other public-sector agencies as well as public-private partnerships. The most recent enquiries have come in Essex and Cornwall, for instance, so it is clear that the Mayor of London’s efforts at defining best practice in procurement are being watched with interest.
Rae Whittow-Williams and fellow ADUP panel lead Tina Jadav will be presenting a ‘Procurement Masterclass’ for architects at ‘Guerrilla Tactics 2018: Expanding Practice: Navigating the architecture of planning, procurement and property’ , which takes place at the RIBA on 13–14 November 2018.
‘Social Value’ will feature as the subject of a PechaKucha presentation at ‘Smart Practice 2018: Value-Added: Making Design Quality Count’ on 4 October 2018 at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.
Thanks to Rae Whittow-Williams, Senior Project Officer – Regeneration & Economic Development, Greater London Authority.
By Neal Morris. This is a Professional Feature edited by the RIBA Practice team. Send us your feedback and ideas
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Posted on 20 September 2018.
