Winning design chosen for City of Culture travelling performance space

Bradford 2025 and RIBA Competitions have revealed the winner of a design competition to select a team for a travelling performance space that will be created for Bradford UK City of Culture 2025.

Carter Gregson Gray with Studio Three Sixty, Structure Workshop & Studio 4215 have been selected as the overall winner from a shortlist of five teams, following presentations to an Evaluation Panel in Bradford.

The winning design concept for the ‘Beacon’ acts as a hub to capture and record the many stories, experiences and narratives that will emerge along the journey.

The design will be highly flexible so it can be adapted and reconfigured between events and respond to different physical locations.

A key approach led by the design team will include collaboration with all of the district’s communities to create a Bradford identity for the temporary, travelling performance space.

Shanaz Gulzar, of Bradford 2025, said: “The judging process for Beacon introduced us to a wide range of talented individuals and organisation and we were blown away by their presentations during the judging process.

“Carter Gregson Gray and their partners demonstrated detailed consideration to all areas of our brief, and we were particularly impressed by their approach for how we can minimise our sustainable impact during 2025.

“We look forward to working with the project team over the coming months to finalise the design and realising a physical space that we can use to transport all forms of culture to our local communities during our year as UK City of Culture.”

Tumpa Husna Yasmin Fellows, co-founder and director of Our Building Design and RIBA architect adviser for the competition, said: “The second phase of the competition facilitated five shortlisted teams to propose a design and methods for developing the Beacon performance venue.

“All the teams demonstrated diverse and interesting design responses, addressing aspects of the client’s brief and ambition in design, materials, and practice, that stimulate debates and unpack the meaning of decolonising spatial design.

“The winning team’s response resonates most with the client’s ambition; with creative community engagement strategies to empower and create a sense of belonging, while proposing a meaningful legacy for the communities in Bradford.”

 Jack Carter, of Carter Gregson Gray, said: “To us, the Beacon represents an incredible opportunity to create an icon for Bradford 2025, a venue that celebrates Bradford’s heritage and its diverse communities through social gathering, performances and artistic collaborations.

“We want to use the structure of the performance space to capture and record the many stories, experiences and narratives that will emerge.”

The other shortlisted teams were:

• APPARATA Architects with Arinjoy Sen and Structure Workshop
• GWP Architecture Ltd + FAUM Architecture with EMPACE and Bradford Moor Pass
• IF Design Office Ltd with Street Space Community CIC and Simple Works TLD
• New Practice with Common Wealth and Reeves & Bond

 Carter Gregson Gray will now work with Bradford 2025 to develop its design proposal further.