Canterbury Cathedral Landscape Design Competition

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Canterbury Cathedral is delighted to announce a design competition to find an outstanding team to revitalise the landscape immediately in front of the main Cathedral entrance. The competition is an opportunity for designers to reconsider the way visitors first encounter England’s leading Cathedral and Mother Church.

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Part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Cathedral’s Precincts were last remodelled in the 1940’s. The Cathedral is looking for a creative team who combine sensitivity to the classic and historic qualities of the space with an ability to meet modern expectations.

Brigadier John Meardon, Receiver General of Canterbury Cathedral said, ‘More than a million visitors enter the Precincts every year and the setting of the Cathedral is their first contact with this numinous and astonishingly beautiful building. The welcome we offer them should show us at our best. We are grateful to Peter Baldwin and Lisbet Rausing for generously funding this competition, which is one strand of our programme to conserve and share this building with a wider audience.’

Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) is managing the competition on behalf of the Cathedral and further details of the project and how to register for the competition are available on the dedicated competition microsite.

Malcolm Reading, Chairman of MRC and organiser behind recent design competitions for the V&A, the Cadogan Estate and the Olympic Park Legacy Company, commented: ‘It’s an unusual challenge for a team, mixing landscape and place-making with a respect for a setting with the highest heritage protection. This is a space that needs to be welcoming, offer sanctuary and also opportunities for celebration. We are hoping for collaborations that balance a rich mix of different skills with sensitivity to the needs of visitors, pilgrims and the church community.’

A creative exploration of the project is strongly encouraged along with interesting multi-disciplinary collaborations. Competitors have until July 17, 2013 to enter the first stage of the competition. All entrants must follow the registration procedure as explained on the competition website.

From the responses a shortlist of five (the competition’s second stage) will be chosen to work up concept propositions (for which an honorarium will be paid to the unsuccessful teams). The shortlist will be announced in the late Summer and the winning team announced in the Autumn.