PRIME Minister Andrew Holness on Tuesday met with the top-five entrants in the Houses of Parliament Design Competition to examine the concepts of each.

The five registered architects and their teams outlined the design plans and models, developed based on the guidelines laid out in the competition brief, to the prime minister at Jamaica House.

Architects Stephen Facey and Hugh Dutton presented the concept design of a National Flower, which incorporated nature into its dome-shaped design, while Guenet Anderson and her team presented the National Veranda, which utilised murals as part of the design feature.

Ravi Sittol and Vidal Dowding’s Grand Veranda utilised natural materials as part of the construction, while Damian Edwards and his team presented the Ubuntu that features a heavily shaded building, which is natural and energy efficient.

Evan Williams and his team presented the Out of Many, One People concept, which showcased an interconnected building with spaces to accommodate the playing of football and an area for outdoor movie watching.

In his remarks following the presentations, Holness acknowledged that “interest and deep thought” went into the design concepts.

“I see two streams [of design] so far. One stream focuses on the iconic and another stream focuses on the practical. Both streams seem to have a canopy, a tent that is protecting the building, which serves for greater sustainability and energy efficiency,” he said.

Holness pointed out that the official design of the Parliament must evoke respect “and symbolise the dreams and aspirations of the Jamaican people and where the dreams and aspirations come to be turned into reality”.

“It has to have a certain sense of authority, and it has to have a certain sense of reverence that we are going to respect. It must also be respectful of the people and, therefore, access and transparency are critical. We also have to build for vulnerability and resilience,” the prime minister added.

Officially launched by Holness in May this year, the competition was open to all registered architects or teams consisting of a registered Jamaican architect based locally or abroad.

Submissions were received locally as well as from Jamaicans living in the United Kingdom, Trinidad, Guyana, America, Argentina, Italy, Canada, Serbia, Turkey, and Iran.

As part of the competition, there will be a People’s Choice component, where the public will be allowed to vote in January 2019.

The ultimate winner of the design competition will be awarded a cash prize of $5 million. This announcement is to be made in February 2019. They will also get the opportunity to work alongside the contractor as part of the implementation team for the project.

The second-place entry will receive $4 million, while the third-place will receive $2 million.

Construction of a new Parliament building forms part of the National Heroes Park Redevelopment and Government Campus Project, part of a master plan to redevelop downtown Kingston.

— JIS