The new National Assembly for Wales building design competition was first announced in the Official Journal of the European Communities (OJEC) on 13 June 1998 to be organised by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The deadline given was 10 July 1998 and fifty five architects responded. Lord Callaghan's fellow judges were lay members Elinor Bennett, Angela Gidden, Mike Reilly and Professor Robin Williams, together with two practising architects Robin Nicholson and Ian Ritchie. On 3 and 4 August eleven people were interviewed. Lord Callaghan announced a short list of six architects on 7 August. The six shortlisted practices gave a presentation of their work at the Park Thistle Hotel, Cardiff, on 15 October. The winner was announced by Lord Callaghan as The Richard Rogers Partnership. This Partnership was also responsible for designing the Millennium Dome at Greenwich.
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The fonds comprises papers, 1990-2000, mainly 1998, accumulated by Lord Callaghan during his period as Chairman of the committee responsible for selecting both the architect and the design concept for the new Welsh National Assembly building in 1998.
Arranged at NLW into nine series: minutes of the National Assembly for Wales Design Competition Assessment Panel; correspondence; diaries; shortlisted architects' plans and submissions; other plans submitted; responses to Bangor and Cardiff exhibitions; press cuttings and press releases; and miscellaneous papers.
Action: All the papers of Lord Callaghan relating to the New Welsh National Assembly Building donated to NLW have been kept..
Donated by the Rt Hon. Lord Callaghan of Cardiff KG per Miss Jayne Thomas, Service Manager, Records Management Service, The National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff, October 2001; A2001/66.
Accruals are not expected.
The papers were held at the National Assembly for Wales between March and October 2001, prior to their transfer to NLW.
Compiled by Ann Francis Evans.
The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Lord Callaghan (New Welsh National Assembly Building) Papers passim
Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to sign the 'Modern papers - data protection' form.
Usual copyright laws apply.
Finding aid available in hard copy at NLW.
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The series comprises minutes, 1998, together with associated papers, including the 'Design Concept Brief'.
Arrangement: original order.
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The series comprises correspondence, 1998, relating to the work of the committee and correspondence with officials, advisers, panellists and members of the public, 1998-2000, concerning matters arising from the launch of the National Assembly for Wales architectural competition.
Arranged chronologically.
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The file comprises correspondence, 1998, relating to matters such as the Wales Millennium Centre project and the Bridgend National Eisteddfod Chair which was donated to the Assembly; together with press cuttings relating to the proposed Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh.
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The file comprises correspondence, 1998-2000, with officials, advisers, panellists and the public, concerning the design of the new National Assembly for Wales building and exhibitions held.
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The series comprises a 'diary of events' in typescript, 4 May-15 July 1998, by Lord Callaghan. In his opening entry he writes 'Gareth Williams telephones to enquire whether I would be willing to become Chairman of a Panel to select an architect and a design for the new Welsh Assembly Building'; together with notes in his hand.
Arranged chronologically.
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The series comprises the entries of the six practices which had reached the final round of the competition in October 1998 and previous work done by them. The architects' presentations include photographs of models of their designs, adjudication by Ian Ritchie, and a cost summary.
Arranged according to the order they were invited to present their designs to the Panel on 15 October 1998. The file containing their previous work has been placed at the end of the sequence.
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The series comprises the competition entries, 1998, of the following architects: Capita in association with Professor Dean Hawkes (Cardiff); Dominique Perrault (Paris); Behnisch, Behnisch & Partners (Stuttgart); Rick Mather (London); and Hurley, Robertson and Associates (London) with Sir Denys Lasdun and Wigley Fox Partnership (Cardiff). These were interviewed in London in August 1998 when the six finalists were shortlisted. Also included are the order of service for the celebration held at Llandaff, table plan for the luncheon held at the National Museum of Wales and the programme of the opening ceremony, 26 May 1999, to celebrate the official opening of the National Assembly of Wales by Her Majesty The Queen to which Lord Callaghan was invited.
Arrangement: original order.
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The series comprises written comments in connection with the architectural exhibition held in 1998; together with a summary of the main points sent to Lord Callaghan.
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The series comprises technical assessments of submissions by the finalists, including an access appraisal by Disability Wales and a response by T. P. George on broadcasting maters, 1998, together with a concept engineering report, October 1998, produced by BDSP Partnership, London.
Arrangement: original order.
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The series comprises mainly press cuttings, 1998-2000, relating to the National Assembly for Wales design competition.
Arranged chronologically.
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The file includes transcripts of the morning news on radio and television, 16 October 1998, regarding the announcing of the winning design, and printouts from the Assembly's homepage about this competition.
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The series comprises miscellaneous notes, 1990-1998, relating to the National Assembly for Wales design competition.
Arrangement: original order.
Preferred citation: 9/1
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The file includes a collection of press cuttings compiled by Bell Pottinger Good Relations entitled 'Winning design is "gem of a building"', 1998, and 'How the Press saw it: The Welsh Assembly design debate through the columns of the papers', 1998, and two speeches delivered at the symposium for a new museum building for Scotland, November 1990.
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The file comprises a contacts list of panellists and others, 1998, and National Assembly for Wales. Appendices, 1998.