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Expression of Interest/Pre-Market Engagement for Playful Structures Peterborough City Centre

Peterborough City Council

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

20 Aug 2026 at 09:40

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Peterborough City Council is exploring the design, manufacture and installation of four to six permanent playful public realm structures in St John’s Square, Peterborough. The project forms part of the Pride in Place Impact Fund and the wider Cathedral and St John’s Square Vision Plan. The structures are intended to improve the appearance, usability and inclusiveness of the civic space, encourage exploration, informal play and social interaction, and create opportunities to sit, recline, climb, balance, gather and pause. They should also work as high-quality public art, civic furniture and distinctive place-making features. The concept is for an inclusive city-centre setting serving a broad range of ages and abilities, rather than a segregated or traditional children’s play area. The procurement covers goods, furniture, recreational and cultural services.

This is a preliminary market engagement and expression-of-interest exercise at the planning stage; it is not an invitation to tender. The Council expected the engagement material to become available through its e-tendering portal from 24 August 2026, with responses expected by 14 September 2026 at noon. It plans to use the responses to inform the project budget and future procurement. The anticipated contract period for the single planned lot is 2 November 2026 to 31 December 2027. The Council has not set a contract value at this stage: participants are asked to provide an expected value or value range for guidance. The engagement asks suppliers to explain their delivery model, including whether design, development, manufacture, installation and handover would be delivered in-house, subcontracted or through separate contracts.

The engagement is suited to small and medium-sized enterprises, voluntary, community and social enterprises, and organisations with experience delivering permanent creative installations in public spaces. Relevant participants may include arts organisations, community interest companies, artist collectives and creative practices able to combine design, fabrication and installation. The work is likely to require capability across full design, development, manufacture, installation and handover of durable playful structures, with an understanding of inclusive design, informal play, civic furniture, public art and place-making. Suppliers should prepare evidence of comparable completed structures, including photographs or examples of work, and a project case study covering successes, issues, solutions and lessons learnt. Businesses should also decide which stages they can deliver directly and where specialist subcontractors or delivery partners may be needed before the future procurement reaches the market.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Expression of Interest/Pre-Market Engagement for Playful Structures Peterborough City Centre

Notice Description

Peterborough City Council is seeking expression of interests/pre-market engagement from experienced arts organisation's, Community Interest Company, artist collective or creative practice to design, manufacture and install a series of high-quality playful public realm structures within St John's Square, Peterborough. This forms part of the Council's Pride in Place Impact Fund programme and supports the wider Cathedral and St John's Square Vision Plan. The programme seeks to improve the quality, appearance and usability of key civic spaces, create a greener and more inclusive city centre, increase activity and dwell time, and support the wider regeneration of Peterborough's civic heart. The aim of this project is to design and deliver between four and six permanent playful public realm structures within St John's Square. The structures should encourage exploration, social interaction, informal play and moments of pause, while also functioning as high-quality pieces of public art, civic furniture and distinctive place-making features. The installations should invite people to sit, recline, climb, balance, gather, play informally, pause and spend longer within the square. They should appeal to a broad range of ages and abilities without creating a segregated or traditional children's play area.

Planning Information

This opportunity will be available on the ProContract portal from 12:00pm Monday 24th August 2026. This advert link https://procontract.due-north.com/Procurer/Advert/View?advertId=d6dedb3a-709c-f111-813c-005056b64545&fromAdvertEvent=True will take you to the portal where you can register/login, express and interest and access the EoI/PME document To express an interest please respond to this request via the e-tendering portal ProContract https://procontract.due-north.com (the portal) responses should be in word or PDF and should be attached as your response. 1. Please provide written details of how you would meet the requirements of this requirement. Please include if you would complete the following in-house or if you would subcontract or your preference would be for separate contracts for each stage • full design • development • manufacture • installation • handover of the playful public realm structures No more than 1000 words, approximately 2 sides of A4 2. Please share photos of previous structures that meet the requirements, photos can be attached or you can provide a link to social media where your work is on display, for example, YouTube or Instagram. 3. Please provide an example of a previous project to include • Successes • Issues • Solutions • Lessons learnt No more than 1000 words, approximately 2 sides of A4 4. Please provide what you would expect to see as the contract value? This can be stated as a range and will only be used as guidance for the authority when setting the project budget. Reponses are required to be submitted via the portal by Monday 14th September 2026 at 12:00 (noon). Any clarifications can be sent via the messaging function on the portal; responses will be public unless it is deemed of no benefit to other interested parties.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06e82f
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079289-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Goods
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

37 - Musical instruments, sport goods, games, toys, handicraft, art materials and accessories

39 - Furniture (incl. office furniture), furnishings, domestic appliances (excl. lighting) and cleaning products

92 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services

CPV Codes

37000000 - Musical instruments, sport goods, games, toys, handicraft, art materials and accessories

39000000 - Furniture (incl. office furniture), furnishings, domestic appliances (excl. lighting) and cleaning products

92000000 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
20 Aug 20264 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
14 Sep 20263 weeks to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
2 Nov 2026 - 31 Dec 2027 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Peterborough City Council
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
PETERBOROUGH
Postcode
PE2 8TY
Postcode Area
Peterborough
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLH East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLH4 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLH41 Peterborough
Delivery Location
TLH11 Peterborough
Local Authority
Peterborough
Electoral Ward
Fletton and Stanground
Westminster Constituency
North West Cambridgeshire

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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