Architectural Competition / The Jury Panel

In order to attract designers of sufficient calibre, the jury panel who will be judging the competition will be chaired by a leading international architect and will be weighted in favour of built environment professionals. RIBA has put together the jury panel as follows:

Co-founded Levitt Bernstein architects in 1968. As the practice has grown to over 100 people the scope of its work has increased to include urban design and major regeneration projects as well as every kind of housing. From the design of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester in 1972, the practice has had a constant programme of buildings for the arts, most recently the restoration of St Lukes Old Street and the Colston Hall in Bristol. David Levitt has been involved in research on housing policy and standards and on family housing in high density urban situations. He is currently 'design champion' on the board of Catalyst Housing Group, a board member of Design for Homes, a member of the CABE Enabling Panel. He is also currently a director of a small housebuilding company specialising in suburban housing.

Other members of the Jury:

Founder of HemingwayDesign, Degree in Geography and Town Planning and has worked on various housing projects specialising in affordable and social design. The highest profile project is The Staiths South Bank, an 800 property mass market housing project in Gateshead for George Wimpey Homes where HemingwayDesign are involved from the master planning and architecture through to the landscaping and marketing of this groundbreaking project. Wayne is the Chairman of Building for Life, a CABE funded organization that promotes excellence in the quality of design of new housing. He is a Professor in the Built Environment department of Northumbria University, a Doctor of Design at Wolverhampton, a writer for architectural and housing publications as well as a judge of international design competitions including the regeneration of Byker in Newcastle Upon Tyne and Salford in Greater Manchester and the Stirling Prize, Europan and a TV design commentator.

Blueprint Magazine is the international authority on contemporary architecture, design and culture. Vicky is a graduate of architecture from the University of Westminster, she also studied fine art at Central St Martins and Chelsea School of Art and Design. She was previously deputy editor of RIBA Journal and editor of Public Service and Local Government magazine. Her articles have been widely published in national, international and professional magazines, including Dazed & Confused, Spiked, Housing Today, Blueprint, MJ, Icon and World of Interiors. Her book 'New Vernacular Architecture' was published in 2001. In 2007 she was shortlisted for Editor of the Year by the Periodical Publishing Association.

He is an Enabler at CABE and previously a Senior Policy Advisor leading CABE's work relating to housing and neighbourhoods ranging from research, campaigning and advice. He is responsible for a number of CABE publications including ‘The Home buyer's guide’ and ‘Housing audit: assessing the design quality of new homes’. He led The Building for Life initiative and advised Government on a wide range of housing issues while at CABE. He is currently working with Urban Initiatives on the Mayor’s Housing Strategy Companion Design Guide and with a range of public and private sector clients designing innovative housing schemes.

He has overall responsibility for urban design and development planning matters within the practice. He has over 25 years’ experience in major urban development and regeneration projects in the UK and abroad. This includes masterplanning of residential, commercial and mixed use development; socio-economic and major transportation programmes; city centre revitalisation; arts, media and cultural strategies; waterfront, public realm, area identity and branding; and conservation projects. Kelvin is also active in urban design education through lecturing and as an examiner, and is the author of several publications on the subject.

He is the former executive director of regeneration at South Tyneside Council, where he oversaw the redevelopment of South Shields town centre. Prior to this he worked in the Government Office for the North-East, where he led on the region's economic development and European agendas. He will be the Public Sector Partner Representative, representing the City Council, English Partnerships and Bridging NewcastleGateshead.

Name tbc

Hazel Stephenson, local resident and Ward Member for Benwell and Scotswood

Alma Wheeler MBE, local resident and community representative