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Oriel Davies Gallery (ODG) is based in the centre of Newtown, a Montgomeryshire market town in the Severn Valley, and the largest town in Powys. ODG is the principle visual arts venue for the east side of Mid Wales and has been a revenue client of the Arts Council of Wales since the 1980s. It is an independent public art gallery, a registered charity, and company limited by guarantee. The gallery’s artistic programmes of national and international art and comprehensive learning programmes are highly respected throughout and beyond Wales. ODG’s gallery shop and café are both run in-house, and in April 2014 the café was been set up as a separate trading arm named Relish Newtown Ltd. ODG is a thriving hub in the local community, receiving between 70,000 and 90,000 visits annually.
Originally called Oriel 31, the gallery was first founded 1982 in Welshpool. In 1985 it moved to Newtown to a building originally named the Davies Memorial Gallery, which it shared with voluntary organizations (PAVO) until 2001. This single storey, pavilion-style red brick building was designed 1967 as an art gallery and community facility for the people of Newtown with a legacy left by Gwendoline and Margaret
Davies (the Davies sisters - Wales’ best known art collectors and benefactors). The building is owed by a separate trust, the MCRA (Montgomery County Recreation
Association), and is leased to ODG. It is on a defined area of land at the edge of the town’s central park, which is owned by and leased from Powys County Council on a
99-year lease.
Between 2002 and 2004 the premises underwent a Two-Phase refurbishment programme with costs totalling £1.6 million. The MCRA led on the scheme, working in association with ODG. PAVO was re-housed at Plas Dolerw (also owned by the
MCRA) and the Davies Memorial Gallery was refurbished solely as an art gallery, being renamed Oriel Davies Gallery in 2003. The main funding partners were the Arts
Council of Wales and the Gwendoline and Margaret Davies Charity, with additional support from Powys County Council.
The capital programme brought about a major upgrading and modernization of the premises, resulting in two beautiful exhibition spaces, with category A museums and galleries standard security and environmental facilities that allow the gallery to show high value artworks from national collections as well as the best of contemporary art. The capital programme also delivered the small café, a gallery retail area, a generous foyer, fully equipped education room, small resource area, 2 storerooms, landscaping and a paved patio/terrace area. The gallery has a double entrance; overlooking the town’s bus station and main carpark to the north and with direct access onto Newtown’s central town park to the south.

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Since refurbishment ODG has grown steadily in profile, achieving numerous accolades and successes, including Arts Council of Wales Beacon Award for
Excellence 2008-10. In 2010 ODG was taken onto its new portfolio following the Arts
Council’s investment review, and in 2013, ODG co-curated the Cymru yn Fenis Wales in Venice exhibition, The Starry Messenger by Bedwyr Williams, at the 55 th
International Art Exhibition, Venice.
Arts Council of Wales has been undertaking a new Investment Review of its Portfolio of revenue clients during 2015, and on 23 September 2015 Arts Council of Wales announced that Oriel Davies should be amongst its provisional new Portfolio list.
This list is provisional until ACW receives confirmation of its 2016/17 budget from the Welsh Government.
Café and Gallery Shop
As well as creating superb exhibiting facilities, the 2002-04 capital programme brought opportunities for ODG to increase its ability to attract visitors and earn income through the café and gallery retail areas. Over the past ten years both have proved highly successful, and the gallery without these attributes would now be unthinkable. However, as our audiences have grown over the years, these areas have become overstretched and currently neither the café nor the shop can grow beyond their current physical limitations to achieve their full potential.
The café is simply too small, having only 20 covers inside, and although able to extend onto the patio (adding a further 30 covers) this can only take place during the warmer months. It operates with a tiny kitchen, which causes discomfort to café staff. The interior café can also become uncomfortably hot for customers during the summer months. The café is also limited to trading only during gallery opening hours, which counts out any evening or Sunday trade.
The gallery shop / retail area is cramped and has limited display space, especially to show medium to larger-scale craft items, and infringes upon the entrance to the exhibition spaces. The shop displays cannot be seen from outside the gallery.
Energy efficiency
While the gallery’s services - heating, lighting and air conditioning systems, were modernized by the capital development, recent increases in energy costs have caused great concern, with worrying implications for the Gallery’s running costs and long-term sustainability. This, together with the national target to achieve low carbon emissions in public buildings, has strongly focused minds on achieving a lasting solution to the building’s energy efficiency.
Increasing Creative Arts & Community space for the gallery
ODG’s education room is a pleasant space and well fit for purpose, having both wet and dry areas and gallery-standard display facilities. However, it doubles as an internal meeting room and is also hired out to external groups, contributing to
ODG’s earned income. As this is the only space ODG has that can be used for arts

3 education and community projects it is under great demand, meaning that we often have to turn away hiring opportunities and hold meetings in cramped staff offices.
Occasionally we have to hire rooms off-site for our own use.
There is also increasing demand and interest from groups and individuals for access to an informal space which can be used for a broad range of artistic / creative / community activities that do not require education workshop facilities (for example, poetry & drama group meetings, local music / artists groups, community interest meetings etc).
The exhibition spaces are continuously occupied, either with shows or in changeover, and as such cannot easily be used for one-off arts and community events, performances, functions and events.
Visibility, signage and branding
While the capital programme greatly heightened visibility for the premises, in particular through distinctive stainless steel and the glass fronted café addition,
ODG’s signage and poster box displays are tired and inadequate, and its branding in need of a re-think. The building itself is modestly proportioned and as such still requires heightened visibility to further attract visitors.
We are looking to appoint a Design Team, who together with our Arts Business
Consultant, will work with ODG on the research and development of a third phase capital project for our premises. Additional input from other relevant consultants
(retail, catering, marketing, energy etc.) may be required. This will take ODG beyond its current position, as a great art gallery with a small café and shop, and transform it into a more flexible, sustainable and highly visible building which can offer multiple visitor attractions at different times of the day and evening, increase the gallery’s ability to earn income, encourage a broader range of audiences, provide energy security and reduce emissions to result in a low carbon building for the future.
We expect the team to develop the project up to RIBA Work Stage 2 and to produce a cost estimate for the design, construction and necessary fitting out and equipment costs. While there is likely to be some disruption to the gallery’s operations during any construction period we would not expect the gallery to have to close for any protracted period.
Artservice has been appointed as the Arts Business Consultants. Their role will be to work with and assist the Board and Director of ODG to undertake the analysis and planning of the Feasibility Study. The Design Team will work closely with Artservice and seek to present a co-ordinated study. The Design Team will report to the Gallery
Director.

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The Feasibility Study will require the following:
Develop the project up to RIBA Work Stage 2 to include:-
 Building design proposals and costings for extension & solar panel installation, to be outlined to RIBA Work Stage 2
site investigation & topographical surveys
café bar extension design and relevant services
re-design of gallery shop, storage and costing of fixtures, fittings & equipment
rebranding, signage & poster boxes
landscaping & public walkway
planning consultations and applications
The Gallery management and Board have considered a number of ways in which the building might be developed in order to accommodate the development needs identified above. Our initial thoughts and ideas are set out below to inform the design team, but we recognise that the design team may offer alternative solutions.
The development process will aim to examine all design options and solutions in order to achieve the optimum cost-effective solution. A key aim of the Gallery is to increase income from all of its trading activities and increasing the visibility and appeal of the cafe and shop are key design considerations, as are the Gallery's high level of security requirements.
1. Extended Café Bar
The new cafe must be self-sufficient in terms of access and facilities, so that it can open outwith the gallery opening hours without the necessity of the gallery opening.
The café bar must have space for a minimum of 40 covers internally and an outside area. It must accommodate a fully equipped kitchen area of sufficient scale to allow it to cater comfortably for both hot and cold food (from brunches, lunches & teas through to evening meals) for at least this number of customers. It should be able to accommodate functions such as modest music / literary events and private functions.
It should be highly visible from the outside and allow clear visibility into the café bar to attract visitors inside. There is a great opportunity to develop a light-framed
‘terrace cafe’ style extension onto the patio on the south (park-side) of the Gallery to house a larger scale café bar. This would open out the cafe to the parkland enabling the Gallery to attract more casual users and is an attractive option.
We are looking for innovative design proposals, materials and technology to present creative and low energy solutions to minimize excessive heat and light gain. The patio faces exactly due south and receives a great deal of direct and reflected heat

5 and light during the spring and summer months and this needs to be taken fully into account.
The café bar design should be able to include new commissions by selected artists/makers into the fabric of the space/building, to reflect what the building is for, and support the work of contemporary artists/makers. The gallery staff will work with the selected Architect and the Arts Business Consultant to recruit and commission the artists/makers for this work.
2. Community/Education Space
The scheme should also include a new and separate creative arts & community space to provide accommodation for informal meetings, seminars, hirings etc. We would expect this to accommodate up to 20 people and to be a flexible, informal space that will allow for a broad range of activities and uses. As with the café bar it should also be able to be accessed outside the main gallery opening hours and easily accessed in the evenings and weekends.
3. Extended Gallery Retail Area
The retail area/shop is an integral part of the gallery and an important attraction to visitors, as well as a key trading activity. We wish to increase the area of retail space available and make the shop more visible to the external world. Ideally the retail area will have a visible shop window suitable for display.
We need an inspired and practical design that will make the very best use of the space available and the architectural features to provide superb display solutions as befitting a gallery shop of the highest quality. The retail area must be able to display the best in contemporary craft and design, from large-scale pieces (ceramics, glass, textile) through to small-scale items. The design should include a new lighting system. It must also accommodate secure storage for shop stock (our current shop storage is inadequate and squeezed into the main gallery art store, which is under great pressure for space).
One option is to position the shop in the area currently used as the cafe which is on the north side of the building and has a visually striking floor to ceiling glass façade that overlooks the town’s bus station and main car park. It was designed specifically to improve the building’s visibility. Re-housing the café to the south side of the building could free up this space and allow it to be re-developed as the gallery retail area, adding around 20 sq m. of display space, plus additional space for storage, and providing a large window display area that is visible from the gallery’s exterior, from the bus station and the car park beyond.
4. Some Key Considerations
Any extension to the existing building must stay within the boundaries of the site and its landscaping (which is land leased from Powys County Council by MCRA) and must not infringe onto the parkland. The design must ensure provision of a public

6 walkway towards the town centre to the east, and playing fields and river walk to the west, and ensure this is attractive and inviting, with excellent wheelchair access.
Goods access into Gallery 2 is currently by way of a vehicular route around the rear of the building leading to a 3-metre wide doorway (used for bringing large scale artworks into the gallery). A new extension is likely to have an impact on this and will require careful consideration to ensure that vehicular access to the gallery door can still be maintained. Furthermore there is exciting potential in opening up this doorway on occasion to provide a view from within Gallery 2 out to an extension and beyond, into the parkland.
We are looking for a striking, elegant and beautiful design solution that is in keeping with the building’s clean lines and clearly reflects its function and identity as a contemporary art gallery. Any design must be in sympathy with the parkland and surrounding hills, and must greatly increase the gallery’s visibility from the town centre. It must enhance the building’s unique attributes and strengths – that of natural light, its open, relaxed, welcoming feel, its harmony with its rural surroundings and its original pavilion-based design. It must seek to open up rather that close down visibility into and out from the building.
The Gallery has Grade A security and all parts of the building have to be able to withstand deliberate attack to a reasonable level (i.e. use ‘bandit proof’ glass).
5. Energy Efficiency – solutions for a low carbon sustainable future for the building
In 2011 an energy audit by the Carbon Trust demonstrated the gallery’s high usage of electricity. There is opportunity to take advantage of the gallery’s existing architecture and create a low carbon solution to the gallery’s energy usage, which could also provide an income stream for the gallery through the sale of excess electricity to the National Grid via Feed-in Tariff.
The Feasibility Study must explore all options for increasing environmental sustainability and reducing energy costs, including the viability of using the building’s existing roof space to site renewable energy source (the building has a large area of flat roof and an extensive solar panel system could potentially be accommodated).
6. Working with the MCRA
ODG worked closely with the MCRA on the development and delivery of the earlier two-phase capital programme when the MCRA was lead applicant to the Arts Council of Wales Lottery and responsible for the budget and instructing the architect and construction team. ODG was granted a 25-year lease by the MCRA in 2003, when we moved back into the gallery following completion of Phase One.
ODG is the applicant for this potential third phase of capital development, and is responsible for raising the capital funding and for instructing the design team. As with the earlier capital development, we will work closely with our landlord to develop the project.

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A requirement of the Design Team undertaking the Feasibility Study is to help ensure excellent communication flow with and between the MCRA, ODG and relevant
Council officers to advise on and discuss outline plans and designs and other relevant issues and requirements connected with the development, such as boundaries, public access, and additions and alternations to the existing building, such as solar panel installations, and to assure that these are achievable in a timely manner.
7. Access
As with the existing building, full disabled access is an absolute necessity for any new development. We will expect an Access Audit to be undertaken and its recommendations to be absolutely integral to any extension design.
The appointed Feasibility Study Team will be made up from the Design Team and
Arts Business Consultant, with additional input from other relevant consultants
(retail, catering, marketing, energy etc). We expect the team to develop the project up to RIBA Work Stage 2 and to produce a cost estimate for the design, construction and necessary fitting-out & equipment costs.
As ODG is VAT registered the cost model will be ex VAT.
Time scale and practicalities
While there is likely to be some disruption to the gallery’s operations during any construction period we would not expect the gallery to have to close for any protracted period.
ODG wishes to appoint a Design Team to work with the gallery and the Arts Business
Consultant to develop a third phase capital programme for the premises. This study must address the following:
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The creation of a new and enlarged cafe with high visibility capable of accommodating up to 40 people and with an external patio area, fully equipped kitchen & catering store, separate toilet/s, and able to operate independently outside gallery opening hours

Exploring the potential for a light framed ‘terrace café style’ extension on
ODG south side of the building also able to include arts and community space
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Provision of a new, modestly sized, flexible arts/community space
 The re-design of building to accommodate a fully equipped gallery shop with good external visibility and adequate shop stock storage
 The needs of the Gallery's business model in terms of facilities and spaces
 Thorough investigation of energy sustainability options including using gallery flat roof/s for solar panel installation

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Full analysis, recommendations and costings on ODG signage and external impact and appeal, heightening the building’s visibility overall
 Landscaping of area adjacent to extension to include public walkway alongside park & gallery
 Staff and public consultation on the proposed extension
 Surveys and planning permissions
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Work with the client to create a project team and structure, to include relevant ODG staff and trustees
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Devise and agree timetable/schedule of work
 Analysis of viability of extending the gallery with a café bar extension,
 Analysis of viability of enlarging the Gallery shop and recommendation on fixtures and fittings
 Energy audit, recommendations and full costings for solar panel installation and feed into analysis of revenue return over 25 year period
 Work with ODG to liaise with landlord, Powys County Council and MCRA and to help clarify tenant / landlord responsibilities and planning issues in connection with any new extension
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Building design proposals and costings for extension & solar panel installation, to be outlined to RIBA Work Stage 2
site investigation & topographical surveys
café bar design, relevant services, storage and outline costing of equipment
re-design of gallery shop, storage and outline costing of equipment
rebranding, signage & poster boxes
landscaping & public walkway
planning consultations and applications

Analysis of impact on running costs (heat, light, power, security & ongoing maintenance) of enlarged premises for ODG
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Work with ODG to assess numbers & types of art commissions to integrate into the extension, and recommendations on selection of the artists
This study is being commissioned by Oriel Davies Gallery Trust and managed by
Project Management Team, which will include:

ODG Director

ACW representative
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Chair of ODG Trustees

ODG capital sub-committee (2-3 trustees)
There will be close liaison with:

ODG staff
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
Relish Ltd Manager
 PCC representative (Senior Arts Officer)
 NTC representative/s (Town Clerk/Mayor)
 MCRA
Tender Advertised
Submission Deadline
Interviews & appointment
Interim Design Report
Final Report
By 24 November 2015
5pm 23 December 2015
Early January 2016
March 2016
April 2016
The Fee for the Design Team is £14,000 (to include all expenses)
Final payment will be made on satisfactory completion of the work. Staged payments will be arranged. Consultants should set out within their submissions their proposal for staged payments.
As ODG is VAT registered the cost model will be ex VAT.
The estimated total cost for the completion of the Feasibility Study to RIBA Work
Stage 2 is around £35,300. This figure includes:
Arts Business Consultant fee: £10,000
Additional Professional fees (retail, catering, etc): £5,000
Additional Professional fees: public consultation/visitors surveys: £2,500
Design Team fee (including all expenses): £14,000
Topographical surveys, planning fees and site investigations: £3,300
Please submit your proposal to arrive not later than 5pm on Wednesday 23
December 2015. Proposals by post should be marked ‘private & confidential’ and addressed to:
Amanda Farr, Director
Oriel Davies Gallery
The Park
Newtown
Powys SY16 2NZ

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Electronic Proposals should be emailed to: amanda@orieldavies.org
The following information should be included with the Proposal:
 A practice profile with information on previous similar projects undertaken
 Full details/cvs of all the architects and team members to undertake the work
 The name of the lead consultant who will coordinate the work on the project and who will be the initial point of contact for any client enquiries.
 Proposed methodology and timetable with an outline work plan

Your response to the brief, including any initial ideas on a scheme

A stated fee with full costings for the study indicating all the time to be allocated by all team members and daily rates; this should include all expenses (please indicate if VAT is payable in addition)

A set of audited accounts for the last financial year

Details of all insurance cover including professional indemnity

Other relevant policies (e.g. health and safety, equal opportunities, access)

Names and contact details of three references
Any quotation submitted will be deemed to remain open for acceptance or nonacceptance for 60 days or more from the closing date stated.
Consultants will need to have Professional Indemnity cover of £2 million for this work. The successful consultant will be required to submit, on appointment, copies of relevant insurance documentation. However, if your current insurance is insufficient, please enclose a statement indicating your current levels of cover, which will be considered at evaluation stage.
Should you wish to visit and tour the Gallery and speak to staff this can be arranged.
Photographs and plans of the Gallery are also available on request. For either please contact:
Amanda Farr: E: amanda@orieldavies.org M: 07743242065 T (work): 01686 625041
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend an interview and to give a presentation on their initial approach and ideas to members of the Project Steering
Group in early January 2016 (DTBC).
Criteria Weighting

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Relevant experience and expertise of company/practice
Understanding of and response to the brief
Experience and skills of staff for this study
Response to environmental sustainability requirements
Value for money
20%
20%
20%
10%
15%
Ability to deliver an achievable scheme 15%
Confirming that the company/practice has full insurance cover; abides by health and safety and equal opportunities best practice; and is financially stable are essential requirements.
ENDS