The competition is on for our first new building

The architectural design competition for the new science complex at Loyola has begun. Representatives of the firms chosen for the competition will receive a competition brief on March 17 and tour the site on March 21, when they can ask questions. The deadline for their submissions is April 14.

They are scheduled to make oral presentations to the jury on April 18, and it is hoped that a winner wil be announced on April 28.

The shortlist of firms invited to compete in the design competition for new buildings on both campuses were carefully chosen by a specially constituted jury: George Adamczyk, Director of the school of architecture at the UniversitŽ de MontrŽal; Claude BŽdard, Dean of Graduate Studies and Research; Martine Lehoux, Director of Facilities Planning and Development; John Locke, Professor of Cinema and Chair of the Faculty of Fine Arts space planning committee; Garry Milton, Executive Director, Rector's Cabinet; Osama Moselhi, Chair of the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering; Lydia Sharman, Chair of the Department of Design Art; and Jonathan Wener, Chair of the real estate planning committee of Concordia's Board of Governors.

For the Loyola Campus, where the construction of a science complex will constitute the major effort in the first phase of building, seven companies and joint ventures were selected from the 24 portfolios submitted:

* Architectes Lemay et AssociŽs/ Busby & Associates Architects

* Architem - DMA (in consortium)

* Atelier Big City / ARCOP / FGM / L'OEUF / RAM / AssociŽs Libres

* Bobrow Architects, in association with Darling and Downey Architects

* LeMoyne Lapointe Magne Architectes et Urbanistes

* Marosi Troy - Jodoin Lamarre Pratte - Cardinal Hardy and Associates Architects

* Saia et Barbarese Architectes

For the buildings on the downtown campus, a shortlist of five companies and joint ventures were selected from 19 portfolios submitted:

* Dan S. Hanganu / Faucher Aubertin Brodeur Gauthier/ Leclerc & associŽs /

* Les Architectes HFL

* Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects / Fichten Soiferman Architects

* MenkŽs Shooner Dagenais Architects

* Provencher Roy et AssociŽs Architectes

* Saucier & Perrotte / Nicolaidis Fukushima Orton Emmian Architects

Professor Lydia Sharman, who chairs the architectural design competition committee, said, "The jury agreed that those on the shortlists are highly qualified, capable of undertaking the job, have relevant experience, and will provide a range of solutions.

"Different companies and joint ventures were selected for the two campuses, bearing in mind the very different challenges involved, and the difficulty of having one group undertaking both projects."

An open invitation to architectural firms drew 47 expressions of interest from across the country. The shortlisted firms have been supplied with criteria for the new buildings which call for, among other things, a science complex in harmony with the original Loyola buildings, and a downtown building that will be a Montreal landmark.

The science complex for Loyola will constitute the first competition, since that site is less complex than the ones downtown. The Concordia community has been promised a chance to see the presentations of the finalists.

-Barbara Black