Carrickfergus, County Antrim

The winning project manager-led integrated consultant team will ‘regenerate, reposition and rebrand’ the historic County Antrim town, 18km from Belfast, as an ‘authentic heritage-led tourism hub’ and the gateway to the Causeway coastal route.

Key elements of estimated £40 million programme – dubbed the Carrickfergus City Deal – include upgrading the castle and historic walls, delivering a new visitor centre, refurbishing a former radar tower and ro lling out new public realm, road infrastructure, interpretation facilities and a lighting scheme.

According to the brief: ‘The scope of the project is to design and implement the transformation of the Carrickfergus into a heritage-led walled town and the gateway to the Causeway costal route. The anticipated duration of the contract is to be 7 years including design, planning, procurement and construction completion.

‘The proposal is to have a new visitor centre adjacent to the Castle which would relieve Carrickfergus Castle of the need to house these facilities within its walls. It would also allow for larger exhibitions and visitor experiences expected of a modern-day visitor attraction and it would extend visitor capacity and commercial revenues.’

Carrickfergus is a large town of around 28,000 inhabitants located on the north shore of Belfast Lough. The Carrickfergus City Deal project, expected to complete in 2030, aims to transform the settlement into a ‘sustainable, visitor destination of scale and a zero-carbon exemplar for the region.’

Key elements of the phased regeneration include creating a ‘world class heritage visitor attraction’ at the castle, conservation of the city walls and the creation of a continuous looped path around the walls, and the creation of a new observation tower and exhibition space inside an abandoned radar tower on Carrickfergus pier.

A new interpretation space will meanwhile be delivered inside a former town hall and a new Harbour Square created on the site of a large surface carp park next to the castle. The winning team will deliver the project from RIBA Stage 2-to-7.

Bids will be evaluated 60 per cent on quality, 10 per cent on social value and 30 per cent on cost.