Design of New US Memorial in New Zealand

The following are responses to several questions that we have received.

Will the review committee expect complete teams? Yes.

Does the review committee have minimum expectations for a proposed team? Yes. The FBO notice states that "the portfolio must include the identity of the lead architect and the lead landscape architect and any other key member of the team". As a minimum, the review committee will expect to see an architect and a landscape architect, making up the portfolio of the design team.

Do you anticipate there will be an approval process with NZ government officials? Yes. The new U.S. memorial will be a part of New Zealand's National War Memorial Park. While the New Zealand government, has invited the U.S. government to construct a memorial in their park, it is clear that they will still have to approve our design and construction efforts.

In order to facilitate the development of design teams with different vendors, ABMC will collect contact information from interested vendors.  For those interested, the deadline for submitting your contact information will be Friday, June 13th.  ABMC will then send, by email on or about Monday, June 16th, a copy of the list to everyone, who submitted their information.

The information that you submit should include at least your email address and your title/specialty.  If you would like to submit a short statement, then you may do so.  An example of such a statement would be, "seeking sculptor with whom to form a design team."  The statement must be less than 50 words.

You must send your information to Mr. Tom Genovese (genoveset@abmc.gov) by June 13, 2014, if you are interested in being included on this list.  For those interested vendors, who are not looking for additional team members, there is no need to submit your information.  Submitting your information in this manner will have no impact on the choice made on the design teams.  All selections will be fully based on the information submitted NLT Monday, July 7, 2014.

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), an independent agency of the United States Government (www.ABMC.gov), is conducting a three-stage competition to select a design team for the United States memorial in the National War Memorial Park in Wellington, New Zealand. The current programmed cost for this monument is approximately $1M.

The competition is open to teams of architects, landscape architects and artists headed by an architect licensed in a United States state or jurisdiction.

Stage 1 is registration for the competition and the submission of qualifications. This submission is an 8-1/2"x 11" portfolio not to exceed twenty-five (25) pages and digital media with the same information. The submission shall include 4 hard copies of the entire portfolio along with a digital copy of all documents.  The portfolio must include the identity of the lead professionals/designers and a biography of the lead architect and the lead landscape architect and any other key member of the team. Design philosophy and examples of work that demonstrate the team's ability to create places of commemoration and reflection are also required. A review committee will select multiple teams to proceed to Stage 2, based on evaluations of the portfolios. The Stage 1 submissions are due to ABMC on July 7, 2014. The criteria used to make the selections for Stage 2 will include: professional qualifications, specialized experience, capacity to accomplish the work, past performance, knowledge of New Zealand construction and culture and capacity to inspect ongoing work during construction.

Stage 2 will be the submission of enhanced portfolios and a presentation to a selection jury. ABMC will select several teams, from the Stage 1 submissions, for Stage 2 on or about July 14, 2014 and presentations/interviews will take place between July 15 and July 25.

Stage 3 is the development of a concept design and a presentation to a jury. A small stipend is being considered to cover a portion of the design costs in this stage. ABMC will invite several teams to compete in Stage 3 by August 1, 2014. The concepts must be received by October 17, 2014. The final selection will be announced on Veterans Day, 2014.

Detailed information on New Zealand's National War Memorial Park can be found on www.facebook.com/NationalWarMemorialPark. Links to the vision, values and mission statements; current construction status; simulated walk through, and; history of the Park can be found on this Facebook page.

This specific announcement covers stages 1 & 2. A separate announcement will be used to solicit concept designs and presentations from the selected teams in Stage 3 and award the design competition stipend.

ABMC will use Harry G Robinson III, FAIA, as its professional advisor for the competition. ABMC has a contract with Mr. Robinson to serve as its Executive Architect.