PRIME Minister Andrew Holness says construction of the new Parliament building is expected to commence by 2021.

Winner of the Government’s Houses of Parliament Design competition Evan Williams and his team, Design Collaborative will provide the concept for the structure, which will be built at National Heroes’ Park.

The prime minister announced the winning concept design, titled ‘Out of Many, One People,’ during the awards ceremony at the park in Kingston on Wednesday.

It features an interconnected building with space to accommodate a football field and an area for outdoor movie watching.

Holness praised the participants for embarking on a “long but rewarding” journey of designing a parliamentary building that will not just be an edifice, but a “working building” of iconic value that will become a tourist attraction.

“We have to make sure that the Parliament is functional and that the people who occupy the Parliament, their capacity to produce is improved,” he said.

He stressed that the construction of the building is necessary to improve the governance of the country.

The prime minister said he is “very encouraged” by the work of the architects and is confident that “Jamaica has a great future in architecture”.

He noted that the Government will strive to integrate more architecture in developing the country’s built environment, noting that this was a valuable lesson coming out of the competition.

“Too often, we are doing buildings without a broader consideration for how that building impacts on the wider built environment and how people function and enjoy the space in which they live,” he said.

The Design Collaborative team also copped the People’s Choice award in the competition, having received the highest number of votes during the voting period, from January 29 to February 28.

During that time, the public was able to view the designs, the three-dimensional models, the animated videos and vote via text or online on the competition’s website at www.ourjaparliament.com.

The winner was chosen from an initial 24 submissions. The entrants were narrowed down to the top five, who were each awarded $2 million for advancing to the second stage of the competition. They then submitted more detailed design plans and models in December.

The winner will now finalise the design, which Holness said is expected to be completed by April 2020.

With an additional cash prize of $5 million, the top team has won a total of $7 million.

The Ravi Sittol-led team placed second for its ‘The Grand Verandah’ concept, earning an additional $4 million; while the third-place team, led by Damion Edmond, received an additional $2 million for its ‘Ubuntu’ design.

Launched in May last year, the concept for the design competition, which was staged by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), includes a Parliament complex to be located within the confines of the National Heroes’ Park, along with recreational spaces and gardens.

The competition was open to all registered Jamaican architects or teams based locally or abroad.

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