Request for Qualifications

Architectural Design Services

Request for Qualifications, Architectural Design Services

Seattle Public Library

February 1999

Request for Qualifications

Architectural Design Services

The Central Library

GENERAL

The Seattle Public Library (SPL) is soliciting Statements of Qualifications from qualified firms to provide architectural design services for the SPL’s new Central Library. Firms with relevant design experience are encouraged to apply. Consideration will be limited to firms which have demonstrated successful experience in the design of facilities of a similar scope for a public sector owner.

Firms from outside the Seattle Metropolitan area will be required to commit to open a local office, or affiliate with a local office if selected. These affiliations are not necessary for the first submission of qualifications, but would be required of firms selected to submit responses to the second phase of review. The first phase of the selection process will focus on selection of the prime architectural firm.

Short-listed firms will be invited to participate in a second phase process that will ask for responses to specific questions. These will call for demonstration of how the design team would approach certain design challenges of the project, but will not seek design solutions. The second phase will also require full explanation of the organization and the roles of design team participants.

Statements of qualifications are due by 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 31, 1999. Selection will be made through a two-step process. Each team planning to submit qualifications should have a representative present at an information conference at 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 10, 1999, at the Central Library, 1000 4^th Avenue, Lee Auditorium, third floor.

INTRODUCTION

On Nov. 3, 1998 the citizens of Seattle went to the polls and voted overwhelmingly in favor of a $196.4 million bond issue. When combined with private donations, this Libraries for All campaign will encompass 26 projects at an estimated cost of $235 million, resulting in a significant renewal of Seattle’s library system. Among the first projects to be initiated is a new Central Library of 355,000 square feet, with a construction budget of $89.9 million.

Project Description:

A new Central Library is to be constructed on the existing Central Library site, which occupies a full city block in Seattle’s downtown office core. The site is surrounded by Fourth and Fifth avenues, and Spring and Madison streets. The building is planned to include 355,000 square feet plus a 200-stall parking structure, and replaces the current 206,000-square-foot downtown library, constructed in 1961. In addition to housing significantly expanded collections, this facility will

be the service hub for the full system

be the technological heart of the system

host public discussions, presentations, and meetings in a new conference area

expand Library programs with new centers for children, adult readers, and technology

provide customer parking underground

modernize staff operational areas to speed library service delivery capabilities

A detailed program has been written for the Central Library. The Executive Summary of this document is available on the Library’s Web site under Libraries for All capital projects, Central Library. Quoting from this document, the design of the Central Library is expected to contribute to the Library’s role as a "seat of learning, a center for reading and a focus of civic and community life." It will include advanced and innovative technology, and SPL hopes it will "convey a sense of wonder, expectation, and discovery, as well as the enduring value of the civic and multicultural resources it makes accessible to all."

Planning for a temporary facility for the library during construction of the new building will be performed under separate contract.

The lead architectural firm selected will join with the SPL as owner/client in assembling a full service design team comprised of landscape architect, consulting engineers, and other specialty sub-consultants. Additionally, Seattle Public Library has commenced a competitive selection process for Project Management/Construction Oversight services. This firm will represent SPL in the daily leadership of this project and its consulting and construction team, under the direction of the Capital Program Office of Seattle Public Library.

ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE

RFQ Solicitation
Architect Selected
Design Team Notice to Proceed
Schematic Design Approved
Design Development Approved
Construction Documents Accepted
Construction Commences
Construction Complete

February 1999
May 1999
August 1999
December 1999
April 2000
January 2001
March 2001
March 2003

STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

The Statement of Qualifications must include the following elements:

letter of interest

demonstration and recognition of accomplished design excellence

experience of the firm as lead architect with buildings of similar scale, complexity, and budget, emphasizing firm’s record of meeting estimated budgets

identification and resumes of personnel to be directly involved in this project: principal, project architect, others expected to perform work, including those in affiliation

identify current workload of firm and personnel assigned to project

experience of the firm with libraries

experience of the proposed personnel with similar facilities, emphasizing similar budgets and schedules

demonstrated experience in sustainable architectural design

description of the firm’s design and project management philosophy

references from recent similar projects, to include: key owner personnel, citizen participant, contractor’s project manager

The Statement of Qualifications may not exceed 20, 8 ½ x 11 inch double-sided pages in length, including photos or graphic material. Tabs with graphics or foldout pages will be counted toward the 20-page total.

Please note: There will be a pre-submission meeting for interested architectural firms at 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 10, at the Central Library, 1000 4^th Avenue, Lee Auditorium, third floor. The purpose of this meeting will be to ensure that expectations, submission requirements, and available background information is equally available and fully understood. To all firms who signed in at the information conference, meeting notes will be distributed by fax no later than Wednesday, March 17, 1999.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

Repeatedly throughout the year-long Libraries for All Campaign, the Mayor, Library Board of Trustees and City Librarian established and reinforced the expectation of design excellence to be embodied in the Central Library. Interested firms must demonstrate an established record of design excellence in their Statement of Qualifications.

Seattle Public Library is not requiring design experience with libraries of a similar size as a pre-condition of qualification.

Goals for the building include the following:

Well designed

Durable

A source of civic pride

A positive addition to its downtown neighborhood

Flexible and functionally efficient for users and library staff

In addition to design excellence, the following criteria will be used for screening and selection of an architectural team

Interested firms must be able to demonstrate experience with buildings of similar complexity and scale.

Experience with a public owner/client on projects of similar scale.

Record of building designs which provide functional excellence.

Experience designing buildings in a dense urban setting.

Record of building designs which are sensitive to site context and regional context.

Record of building designs which use natural light and building materials effectively.

History of effective schedule and budget management for buildings of similar scale and budget.

Availability of sufficient qualified staff to the project throughout its development.

Seattle Public Library is considering use of a General Contractor/Construction Manager during the design and construction of this project. This is a public work procurement process specific to the State of Washington, analogous to a private sector Guaranteed Maximum Price contractor selection/negotiation. Demonstrated experience with these processes is preferred. If the firm proposing has not worked with this model, the submittal should include a clear willingness to work with this approach, and a listing and description of experience working collaboratively with a contractor on cost control for major projects. If this approach is chosen, close coordination with the GC/CM throughout design and construction is anticipated to complete the project on schedule and within budget.

Public interest in the Central Library runs high, as well as excitement and interest on the part of Library staff. Interested firms must be able to demonstrate successful experience with public involvement in a project’s design, should have experience working with staff at many levels in facility planning, and expect open community review during Central Library design phases. The SPL will engage a communications consulting firm to plan and coordinate public involvement. The selected architectural team will be expected to work collaboratively with this communications effort.

WOMEN & MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

Like its general population, Seattle’s business community is diverse. The City of Seattle encourages contractors to employ a workforce reflective of the region’s diversity. The City encourages the utilization of minority owned businesses (MBEs) and women-owned businesses (WBEs) (collectively, WMBEs), in all City contracts. Pre-notification, open solicitation, small business-oriented task grouping for subcontracts, and co-operative recruitment are beneficial contract management practices that will aid in successful identification and incorporation of WMBEs into this contract.

Contractors, bidders, and proposers shall not create barriers to open and fair opportunities for WMBEs to participate in all City contracts and to obtain or compete for contracts and subcontracts as sources of supplies, equipment, construction and services. In considering offers from and doing business with subcontractors and suppliers, the Contractor shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, sex, age, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or the presence of any mental or physical disability in an otherwise qualified person.

The City has a goal of 27 percent WMBE utilization on its public works/construction projects. This goal is not a preference, and the City does not grant preferential treatment based on either race or gender in the awarding of its contracts. Thus, whether the Contractor meets the City’s WMBE goals in its bid or proposal will not be a consideration in awarding of this contract.

EVALUATION PROCESS

This is a two-step process. Written Statements of Qualifications will be due to Seattle Public Library by 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 31, 1999. A 13-member advisory Architect Selection Panel will consist of up to five architects, a developer, representatives of business, industry, and the arts, and friends and supporters of the Library. Library staff and The Panel will review the submittals and recommend a short list of firms to the Library Board. A letter will notify all submitting firms of those firms selected for participation in the second step. The letter will contain specific instructions for the second step. Additional information and preliminary response to the library’s program or site may be required of firms selected for the second stage of consideration. The Library Board will make the final selection of the architectural firm.

Fifteen (15) copies of the complete Statement of Qualifications must be received no later than 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 31, 1999. Statements of Qualifications should be delivered to:

Ms. Alexandra Harris, Capital Program Director
Seattle Public Library
1000 Fourth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Interested firms are encouraged to examine additional background information found on the project Web site at http://www.spl.org, under Libraries for All Capital Plan. An information packet is available upon request. Specific questions regarding this announcement, and the Statements of Qualification, should be directed to:

Ms. Alexandra Harris
Seattle Public Library
(206) 386-4145
capital.program@spl.org

This announcement was published in the Daily Journal of Commerce Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999.

www.spl.org last modified: 19 February 1999

Content modified:19 February 1999

12/30/2005