Brief for the character appraisal and conservation planning of three
architectural conservation areas (ACAs) in County Louth
Louth Local Authorities wish to appoint a suitably qualified architectural
consultant to survey, evaluate and report on the character of three existing
architectural conservation areas.
1.
The Project
The purpose of this project
This project will help conserve Louth's fine architectural heritage by raising
awareness and knowledge, both within the council and more generally, of
some of the county’s architectural conservation areas.
Detailed character appraisals of selected ACAs will assist in the prevention of
damaging development, through providing detailed advice to owners and
occupiers and their professional advisers or contractors about the effect of
ACA status.
Required services and outputs
For each ACA, we need the following three aspects covered:
A


B

RESEARCH
A detailed architectural survey, including an appraisal of streets and
open areas
A brief historical analysis of the area’s development
APPRAISAL AND PRESENTATION
A detailed, written description of the character of each of the selected
ACAs under appropriate headings, including:
 its setting
 the building materials used
 construction techniques of structures and surfaces which
contribute to the area’s character
 photographs and drawings, as considered appropriate
 An evaluation of each area i.e. an outsider’s perspective on it
The appraisal should address not only the buildings, but should also consider
the public domain, open space, street furniture, signage, etc.
C



CONSERVATION STRATEGY
An identification of current threats to each area
Recommendations for any boundary changes (if required)
A detailed conservation strategy detailing the implications of each
ACA for planning and development, which will provide owners and
occupiers with guidance aimed at preventing damaging development
and encouraging appropriate development in or adjacent to the
selected ACAs. This should cover:
1. The types of works that would impact on the character of the
ACAs (and therefore requiring planning permission), under
appropriate headings.
2. General guidance on appropriate new build, amalgamation of
structures, demolition, boundary treatments, external lighting,
street furniture and views.
The process should be informed by the Architectural Heritage Protection
Guidelines for Planning Authorities 2004 and any other relevant documents
(e.g. National Town Walls Policy, ICOMOS) deemed appropriate by the
consultants.
The architectural conservation areas to be surveyed
we require the three following architectural conservation areas be surveyed
and reported on
1. Ardee ACA (Louth County Council area)
2. West Street/Narrow West Street, Drogheda
3. Clanbrassil Street ACA, Dundalk
Background
Louth has a rich and varied architectural heritage. Drogheda has, in
particular, very fine mediaeval survivals and excellent Georgian streets, while
Dundalk developed a whole architectural style (the Dundalk Style) in the
nineteenth century. Ardee is a small, attractive market town, of medieval
origin, astride the N2, national primary route. Each town contains many
protected structures. In addition to these ‘elite’ buildings, much of the urban
fabric of the three towns is of great value and architectural conservation areas
have been designated to protect the context of the protected structures.
Awareness of these architectural conservation areas and what ACA status
actually means, both within the council and among the wider community, is
lower than we would like it to be. To try to address this, in 2007, we produced
several ACA-specific leaflets, as well as a general, 'ACAs in Louth' leaflet and
'a guidelines for works in ACAs' (which was not printed). These are available
on the publications page of the Louth Heritage website (www.louthheritage.ie).
2.
Your response to the brief
Your tender should give a detailed description of your proposed methodology,
which should include:






How you would respond to the brief, including a method statement and
timetable for the works required
The range of professional skills which will be brought to bear, including
names and CVs of proposed team members. The team should include
members with the following expertise: Architectural surveying,
Architectural Conservation, Report writing, (town) planning
A resource plan showing the breakdown of person hours between
professions and project stages
A detailed breakdown of the cost of the tender bid (exclusive of VAT)
Previous experience of the firms and personnel proposed, including the
project leader
Extent of professional indemnity cover
Please supply two copies of tender documentation (one bound and one
loose).
Qualifying criteria
Any interested party is invited to submit a tender. However only those
companies which demonstrate that they meet the necessary qualitative
criteria and possess the required levels of financial and technical capacity will
be considered. In order to enable the Council to ascertain this, all tenderers
must provide the following information:
Information on your Organisation
o
Company Address
o
Contact person
o
Year established and company background
o
Account experience
o
Comprehensive list of the range of services available
o
Any additional background information you consider relevant.
Evidence of Similar Contracts/Projects
Comprehensive details of (up to a maximum of three) examples of
completed assignments of:
o
a similar nature
o
a similar scale
o
evidence of positive response to outputs produced from each
assignment
o
start and completion dates and approximate contract values
Contact Details for Referees
Referee contact details should be provided for each example, where
possible.
Tenderers must comply with the requirements outlined above in order to
remain eligible for detailed tender evaluation.
2.1
Tender Assessment Procedure
The contract will be awarded on the basis of the most economically
advantageous valid and responsive tender (compliant with the technical
specification) evaluated in accordance with the following criteria and
weightings:
Criterion
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Total marks Minimum
available
Required
Quality and Expertise of the Project 3,500
2,000
Team
Ultimate Cost
3,000
N/A
Methodology and Management for 1,500
900
Delivery of Work
Demonstrated understanding of the 1,000
600
project
Compliance with current Irish Health 1,000
600
& Safety Legislation
TOTAL
10,000
4,100
Tenderers should give careful consideration to the assessment criteria, as
detailed below and the relative weightings used and, in particular, the
requirement for meeting a minimum level under each particular heading
(except overall cost).
2.1.1 (A) The Quality and Expertise of the Project Team (3,500 marks)
Please provide CVs for all Project Team Members (including the Project
Director and Project Manager) along with summary paragraphs detailing
the team’s knowledge and expertise in the following areas:





Architectural (building) surveying
Architectural conservation, including principles and policy
Public Realm advisory work
The Planning and Development Acts
Report writing
Please also indicate the anticipated daily input per project team member.
Information should also be provided in relation to the availability of the
proposed team during the period of July, August and September 2011.
2.1.2 (B) Ultimate Cost (3,000 marks out of 10,000)
The contract will be awarded based on the most economically
advantageous ultimate cost to Louth Local Authorities, as evidenced in
the schedule of rates and inputs provided in the submission:
A Schedule of Rates and Inputs (exclusive of VAT) must be provided
with the names and input of individual personnel involved in the project
costed against the relevant key activities. Please also provide a full
breakdown of all the expenses and incidentals, which will be incurred in
delivering this assignment. Interim Payments can be made in
accordance with agreed work stages.
Please note that in relation to Criterion (B) Ultimate Cost, tenders will be
scored in inverse proportion to the maximum score, which will be
allocated to the lowest cost valid and responsive tender not previously
eliminated. In other words, the cheapest valid tender will receive 3,000
marks. The second cheapest will receive (3,000 marks times the
cheapest tender divided by the second cheapest tender) and so on down
through all the valid tenders.
2.1.3 (C) Methodology and Management for delivery of work (1,500)
Evidence (contained in the methodology in the submission) for:

General approach to assignment and overall project management

Process to be adopted and implemented

Methods for reporting to the Client

Internal Quality Management on this contract

Systems for controlling and monitoring the project

Contingency plan for sick leave or holidays (if relevant)

Innovation which will increase quality of outputs and/or accelerate
delivery of outputs
2.1.4 (D) Demonstrated understanding of the project (1,000 marks)


2.1.5
Understanding of the overall aims and objectives of the assignment
Any additional insight into issues which might affect the assignment
or the project
(E) Compliance with current Health & Safety Legislation (1,000)
Tenderers may be invited to give a presentation of their Tender and if so, will
be notified of this following the evaluation of tenders.
3.
GENERAL ISSUES
3.1 BUDGET
The budget for the project is €3,000 plus VAT, per ACA. Louth Local
Authorities will deduct withholding tax. A current tax clearance certificate will
be required.
3.2 REPORT FORMATTING AND STANDARDS
 Six bound, printed copies of each final, approved ACA report
 A high resolution, digital copy (on CD) for printing additional fair copies
(with all photographs saved at greater than 6 MB image resolution)
 A low-resolution, compressed digital copy (on CD) – for
websites/downloading (maximum file size not to exceed 5 MB)
3.3 COPYRIGHT AND CONFIDENTIALITY
The consultant appointed will be required to assign their copyright of the plan
to Louth Local Authorities. The information provided under each area study
will become the property of Louth Local Authorities. Contractors may not use
any survey/design information for their own use, except by prior written
permission from the Louth Local Authorities.
3.4 ARCHIVING
All materials should be archivally stable (i.e. not printed on acid paper).
3.5 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
Louth Local Authorities operate under the Freedom of Information Act, 1997,
and all information held by the Councils may be subject to requests under this
Act.
3.6 INTERVIEW
Interviews may be held with selected candidates prior to appointment.
3.7 LOWEST TENDER
Louth Local Authorities do not bind themselves to accept the lowest or any
tender, and no person making a submission will be remunerated for any
trouble or expense incurred in preparing a submission. Only tenders
indicating a single figure (not a range of figures) are acceptable.
3.8 COMMUNICATION
To ensure equality between applicants, the Louth Local Authorities will not
enter into any correspondence or discussions with the applicants or their
agents during the preparation period for submissions.
Louth Local Authorities will take due cognisance of any clarification which
might have been required, provided this is notified in the submission by the
applicants.
3.9 TIME SCALE
The deadline for receipt of tenders will be Friday 15th July 2011 at 4pm. No
tenders can be accepted after that date. It is your responsibility to ensure that
your tender has been received and signed for, if necessary, by that time.
3.10 PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING
A steering group from Louth Local Authorities (comprising the heritage officer,
conservation officer and elected members) will manage the project. The
appointed consultants will be expected to report through formal meetings to
the Steering Group throughout the project process. The client will be Louth
County Council. The day-to-day contact will be with the Heritage Office.
3.11 INSURANCE
The applicant should provide evidence of relevant insurance cover and
provide a Health and Safety Statement.
3.12 MARKING OF THE TENDER ENVELOPES
ENVELOPES CONTAINING TENDERS SHOULD BE CLEARLY MARKED:
“Tender for architectural conservation area appraisals”
“DO NOT OPEN!”
“To be opened only in the presence of the Cathaoirleach”
And should be addressed to:
Michael McCabe
Administrative Officer
Economic Development and Future Planning Section,
Louth County Council
Millennium Centre
DUNDALK
County Louth
The closing date for tenders is Friday 15th July 2011 at 4pm. No tenders
can be accepted after that time and date.