Five teams battle for role on £720m Westminster revamp

Aecom, Sweett Group and Turner & Townsend are among the firms in five teams in the running for a key role on the prestigious refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster, Building can reveal.

Parliament’s estate arm is seeking a team to conduct a feasibility study of options for refurbishing the grade-I listed building and bringing it up to modern standards through a £720m-plus programme of works.

The five teams in the running include Mace with WSP, KPMG and Donald Insall Architects; Aecom with Deloitte and HOK; Parsons Brinkerhoff with Sweett Group and HLM Architects.  

Two other teams are headed by consultants Turner & Townsend and EC Harris respectively.

A sixth team led by consultant Gardiner and Theobald, which included architect Allies and Morrison, had been shortlisted but did not submit a final bid by the deadline of 11 October.

The eventual refurbishment programme will involve finding a way to keep Parliament operating while the upgrade work takes place and may involve moving MPs offsite.

A pre-feasibility study published in October 2012 said the palace suffered from damp, leaking roofs, crammed service areas, unreliable cooling and heating systems and asbestos.

It subsequently recommended a “major mid-life overhaul”.

The initial role is mostly strategic and logistical planning, cost calculation, risk assessment along with some outline design work it is expected to position the winning bidder well for an ongoing role in the refurbishment programme.