AEA facilitated a strategic planning exercise, occasioned by the pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square (in a scheme developed by Sir Norman Foster & Partners) and the Gallery’s acquisition of an adjacent office and hotel block.

AEA's work involved assisting the Gallery's management and Board to take maximum advantage of these changes by:

• Prioritizing the potentially conflicting candidate uses in the context of its strategic ambitions;
• Articulating the broad spatial and financial parameters in the form of a strategic brief or program;
• Using this as a basis for recruiting a master planner; and, finally,
• Facilitating the architectural selection process itself, comprised of a two stage competitive interview, conforming with European Community requirements.

The key to the success of the process lay in ensuring there was a consensus within the Board and Senior Management about strategic priorities and financial parameters prior to the recruitment of the master planner. At the same time, the Gallery's priorities were expressed in a way that did not limit the chosen master planner's deployment of spatial and design skills in realizing a full scheme.

Back