The New Street Gateway partnership has appointed the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to launch and manage the selection process for a Concept Designer to develop the overarching building vision for the project to redevelop New Street station and the surrounding area.

The partnership, which involves Network Rail, Birmingham City Council, Advantage West Midlands; Centro (West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive); Department for Transport (DfT) will work with the RIBA Competitions Office to award the contract to define the external form of the proposed flagship £550m redevelopment.

The Concept Designer will be responsible for developing and maintaining a strong architectural language for the site’s external facades and atrium roof aspects of the project.

Martin Chambers, Network Rail’s Project Director said: “This is an excellent opportunity to create a design that lives up to the station’s status as one of the most important rail hubs in the country. Its design will need to act on both a functional and symbolic level and reflect the aspirations of modern day Birmingham and the wider West Midlands region.”

Councillor Mike Whitby, Chairman of the Gateway Steering Group and Leader of the City Council said, “Achieving a first-class design for the redeveloped New Street Station is a fundamental part of our drive to further Birmingham's position on the world stage, which is the core of our City Centre Masterplan.

"We want to create an attractive and iconic landmark for local people and the 30 million plus visitors who come to Birmingham each year. I hope that with some imaginative design, New Street will act as a beacon of good design at the heart of our regenerated city centre."

With the volume of passengers expected to grow over the next twenty years, Birmingham New Street station in its current format will have insufficient capacity to meet the forecast passenger demand. The New Street Gateway project has been drawn up in response to address the challenges the current station faces.

From the initial Expressions of Interest, up to six Designers will be invited to produce an architectural model and concept design sketches in response to the site context and attend an interview to outline their vision to the Jury Panel.

'For a Preliminary Briefing Paper and details of how to enter the competition please contact the RIBA Competitions Office: Tel. +44 (0)113-234-1335 or visit www.architecture.com/competitions. The Expression of Interest deadline is 12.00hrs GMT on Monday 28 January 2008'.