A TOTAL of 27 world leading architects and town planners from about 10 countries have been shortlisted for the Penang South Islands International Masterplan Design Competition (MDC).
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said nine of the participants were from Malaysia while the remaining were from the United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands, Australia, United States, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, Norway and Denmark.
He said all the 27 shortlisted applicants were chosen from the 124 firms from 25 countries, which had submitted their applications during the Registration of Interest (ROI) process.
“The 27 submissions have been shortlisted by the selection panel to proceed to the Expression of Interest (EOI) stage which will be due on Dec 30 this year.
“All the qualified firms will need to present the credentials of their consortium in this EOI stage before five shortlisted finalists will be chosen and announced in January next year.
“The chosen finalists will then be tasked to present their designs and the winner chosen by the Master Jury panel will be appointed by the state as the Lead Master Plan Designer, subject to terms and conditions.
“All the consortiums taking part must be represented by a Malaysian architect or a town planner.
“The state government is absolutely delighted to attract interest from participants around the world,” he told a press conference in Komtar today.
The competition was a collaboration between the state and the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) Northern Chapter under the Board of Architects Malaysia (LAM).
The ROI process, which started on Nov 6, ended at 5pm on Nov 25.
During the competition, the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project would be temporarily be named as Penang South Islands (PSI).
Chow said PSI is a strategic initiative by the state government to create employment in future.
“Located in the southern part of the island-state, PSI is in a strategic location near to the Bayan Lepas Industrial Zone, Penang International Airport (PIA) and Sultan Abdul Halim Mua’dzam Shah’s bridge.
“It will lead Penang towards Industry 4.0,” he said, adding that the PSI design would be based on a green environment equipped with a recreational park, seafront and cycling lanes.
Competition adviser Ang Chee Cheong was also happy with the applications received from local and international companies.
“It attracts the most influential firms locally and internationally,” he said.
For more details, kindly visit https://pg-mdc.com/
Story by Edmund Lee
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis
Video by Ahmad Adil Muhamad