The V&A at Dundee is looking to create a landmark building, which will
be sited at Craig Harbour right on the banks of the River Tay. The site
is being made available through the Dundee Central Waterfront
Partnership, the joint venture between Dundee City Council and Scottish
Enterprise which is revitalising the prime area of land linking the city
centre with the River Tay.

“The high quality and wide variety of the shortlist will enable the partners to create a building which will not only be part of the transformation of Dundee's waterfront but also be a landmark for visitors from Scotland and all over the world.” said (right) Lesley Knox, chair of Design Dundee Ltd, the company established to drive the V&A at Dundee project forward, who headed the jury panel which decided on the shortlist.

Sir Mark Jones, director (left) of the V&A, noted “This is a particularly strong shortlist which promises to produce an outstanding building that reflects the V&A's unique partnership with Dundee.”

The shortlisted companies will be asked to produce design concepts and models, to  go on public view in the library of the University of Abertay Dundee. The competition design winner will be announced in late summer.

SHORTLISTED

Delugan Meissl Associated Architects (Vienna) established for 15 years have two large-scale housing projects in Vienna: the “Beam”, built 1998 and “Mischek Tower” 2000. More recent projects include Sandoz of the Novartis global HQ (2003), “Ray1”, the house on a rooftop near Vienna’s city centre, the “City Lofts” and the “High Rise” in the Wienerberg district. The company's contribution for the first Architecture Biennal in China attracted international attention.
The completion of the new Porsche Museum, (left) the forthcoming building of the Filmmuseum in Amsterdam and an ex-aequo first-prize selection for the “Darat King Abdullah II Cultural Center” of Amman, Jordan (2008) are all evidence of international work. The design team led by Delugan Meissl, includes Wenzel+Wenzel (Germany), Werner Sobek (Germany) and Büro Kiefer (Germany).

Kengo Kuma & Associates (Tokyo) founded in 1990 in Japan with Paris based European offices, is  involved in a wide range of design scales from furniture and product to architecture and urban scale planning. Kengo Kuma is a Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture at theUniversity of Tokyo winning many awards including the Architectural Institute of Japan Award in 1997.  His stated goal is to recover the  design of traditional buildings and reinterpret it for the 21st century utilising the inspiration of light and nature to help achieve this. Two recent examples of the approach are; (above right) the 12,000sqm Art Museum for Nagasaki City in Japan completed by Kuma in 2005, and  design for the Contemporary Arts Centre in Marseille, (left) France, currently under construction.

Kengo Kuma’s team for the V&A project includes cre8architecture (Scotland), ARUP (UK), Optimised Environments Ltd (Scotland) and CBA (Scotland).

REX,  New York City, USA and founded in 2000 recently completed work includes the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre for the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Texas, and the Istanbul HQ for Vakko (right) and Power Media (Turkey’s preeminent fashion and media companies). Other cultural projects in progress include Museum Plaza, a 62-story mixed-use skyscraper housing a contemporary art center in Louisville, Kentucky, and the new Central Library and Music Conservatory for the city of Kortrijk, Belgium. In the past year REX received second prize in two international competitions; one for the new Edvard Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, and the other for the Finnish Innovation Fund’s Low2No sustainable development in Helsinki, Finland.
REX actively works at all scales of design, from the urban masterplan for Governors Island, an invitation-only design competition of 172 acres
in New York City, USA, down to the tiny (left) Doll House  for Calvin Klein’s flagship store in New York City, USA.

The REX design team for the V&A project also includes Magnusson
Klemencic Associates (USA), DCI (USA), Buro Happold (UK), Bureau Bas Smets (Belgium), Lord Cultural Resources (USA) and Urban Splash Group (UK).

Snøhetta was established 1989 in Oslo on winning the international design competition for the (right) Alexandria Library in Egypt.  Since its completion in 2001, this historic building has received many awards and prizes, including the highly valued Aga Khan award in 2004.  The company currently has around 120 people, with a smaller branch office in New York and soon to be represented in the Middle East.
Their concern for cultural buildings has sustained the practice throughout its life and is reflected in their current portfolio that includes the 1,600 seat Norwegian National Opera in Oslo, the World Trade Centre (left) Museum in NewYork, and the Cultural House in Sandvika, Oslo.
The Snøhetta multidisciplinary team for the V&A project includes Gareth Hoskins Architects (UK), Lord Cultural Resources (Canada), Davis Langdon (Scotland), Adams Kara Taylor (UK) & BDSP Partnership (UK).

Steven Holl Architects (New York) with locations in New York and Beijing was founded  in 1976, and it now has a total staff of 50. The firm has been recognised with numerous awards, publications, and exhibitions for quality and excellence in design, Named by Time Magazine as America’s Best Architect, Steven Holl has a  design sensibility for “buildings that satisfy the spirit as well as the eye.” SHA specialise in works for the arts and higher education such as the (right) Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (Helsinki, Finland); and the University of Iowa’s School of Art & Art History.
The firm’s current work includes a (left) building at the Glasgow School of Art (with jmarchitects), the Arts Building West at the University of Iowa, and the Center for Creative and Performing Arts at Princeton  University.

The design team led by Steven Holl includes jmarchitects (Scotland), Guy Nordenson & Associates (USA), ARUP (Scotland), Thomas & Adamson (Scotland), Michael van Valkenburgh Associates (USA) and Transsolar Energietechnik (Germany).

Sutherland Hussey Architects Edinburgh was established in 1997. The office has a diverse range of work ranging from large urban planning proposals and public and private commissions to small one-off commissions for private clients.  They have yet to receive significant
commissions in Scotland, but their skills and commitment are bearing fruit abroad

Completed projects to date include private residences (The Barnhouse,
Highgate, was awarded the AJ First Building Award at the 2002 Stirling Prize ceremony), an Art Gallery in Inverness and a cheese factory in
Cornwall (also being awarded an RIBA award and the Civic Trust Special Award in the ‘rural buildings’ category in 2003).  Their arts project in (right) Tiree was awarded the RSA Gold Medal, a RIBA Regional Award , the RIAS Architecture award, and was short-listed for both the Stirling
Prize in 2003 and the Mies van der Rohe Award for Architecture in 2005.
In 2007 Sutherland Hussey won the Competition to design the Chengdu City Museum (left) in Sichuan, China. This 60,000sqm museum includes gallery space, puppet theatre, administrative facilities and commercial outlets.  In 2008 they were appointed as architects for a £25m Archaeological Museum in Neihulang, Inner Mongolia, China.

The V&A design team led by Sutherland Hussey includes 3DReid Architects (Scotland), AECOM (Scotland), Morham & Brotchie (Scotland), Gross Max (Scotland) and KSLD (Scotland).

It is planned that the V&A at Dundee will open in 2014. The dynamic
combination of a landmark building on a superb site and outstanding
content will help drive forward Dundee’s Waterfront regeneration and
stimulate further Scotland’s creative industries.