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Barbican Renewal Programme - MEP Programme

The Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Tender

14 Sep 2026 at 13:50

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

24 Aug 2026 at 12:54

UK3 - Planned Procurement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The City of London Corporation is procuring a major mechanical, electrical and public health (MEP) strip-out and renewal works package for the Barbican Centre in London. The work covers removal of life-expired building services and installation of new plant, distribution and containment across basement plant levels and public floors. The single package covers site-wide MEP infrastructure, the Conservatory, Art Gallery Foyer, Curve Gallery, Main Foyers, Stair 8 and Catering Block. It is a refurbishment of an occupied, publicly operated arts venue rather than new-build construction, including concert hall, cinemas, galleries, library, function rooms and car parks. The contractor must manage phased access, service isolations and shutdowns, interfaces with retained systems, and delivery during a planned 12-month closure. The Barbican is a higher-risk building subject to Building Safety Regulator Gateway obligations.

The procurement has reached tender: the buyer invited offers through a selective, competitive flexible procedure with an Invitation to Participate followed by an Invitation to Tender, workshops and site visits, technical and commercial submissions, and interview. Enquiries close at 12:00 on 2 October 2026 and expressions of interest at 12:00 on 12 October 2026. The planned award decision date is 22 October 2026. The contract is scheduled to run from 22 February 2027 to 21 September 2029, with a possible extension to 21 March 2030 for programme overrun. Estimated value is £50 million excluding VAT and £60 million including VAT. One package is planned, with up to four pre-qualified applicants proceeding to the next stage. Evaluation is technical quality 45%, commercial cost 40% and responsible procurement 15%.

This opportunity suits established MEP trade contractors able to deliver complex refurbishment in a large, live public building. Relevant capability includes mechanical and electrical engineering, public health systems, plant replacement, distribution and containment, demolition interfaces, design management, construction sequencing, commissioning and coordination with retained services. Bidders need credible experience of occupied-building working, restricted access and logistics, heritage constraints, phased delivery and major shutdowns. They must demonstrate financial capacity, suitable insurance, health and safety management, risk management, quality and delivery controls, and effective supply-chain management. Experience and scored responses are used to select candidates, followed by assessment of programme and method statements, Building Safety Act and higher-risk-building requirements, climate action and social value. The contract also calls for sufficient organisational capacity to support a substantial multi-area programme and manage potential extensions or additional works.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Barbican Renewal Programme - MEP Programme

Notice Description

This trade contract package comprises the Mechanical, Electrical and Public Health (MEP) strip-out and renewal works forming part of the Barbican Renewal Programme (BRP), a major infrastructure renewal of the existing, occupied Barbican Centre on behalf of the City of London Corporation (Contracting Authority, operating the Barbican Arts Centre as Employer). The works are to be let under a JCT CM/TC 2024 Trade Contract, delivered under a Construction Management approach, with Blue Sky Building appointed as Construction Manager and Gardiner & Theobald LLP as Lead Consultant. This is a strip-out and renewal package, not new-build construction. The works comprise the removal of existing, life-expired MEP infrastructure and the installation of new plant, distribution and containment across multiple basement plant levels and public floors of a large, live, publicly operated arts venue comprising a concert hall, cinemas, art galleries, conservatory, library, function rooms and car parks. The Trade Contractor will be required to work around continued public operation of the Centre, including phased access, a full 12-month closure period from end June 2028, isolation and shutdown of live building services, and interfacing with retained plant and systems, across every work area described below The MEP package is a single trade contract comprising the following designated work area sections: * MEP Infrastructure and Site-Wide Systems * Conservatory * Art Gallery Foyer * Curve Gallery * Main Foyers * Stair 8 * Catering Block The Barbican Centre is classed as a Higher-Risk Building (HRB) under the Building Safety Act 2022 and falls within the remit of the Building Safety Regulator (BSR); the Trade Contractor is to allow for the relevant Gateway compliance obligations throughout delivery.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Options: The following items represent scope where this MEP package and Demolition and Structures strip-out or survey effort overlap, or are not separately demarcated between the two packages. They are set out here for pricing coordination between the two packages. * Shaft access equipment and walls/doors/floors strip-out (Infrastructure): the strip-out of walls, doors and floors, clean/repair/make good within existing shafts, and strip-out of access equipment in shafts within the infrastructure shafts. * General strip-out demarcation -- Conservatory, Foyers, Catering Block, Art Gallery Foyer. Further demarcation is under review. * Retention and reuse of the existing ventilation riser pair fed from the Foyer basement AHU. With strip-out and replacement of non-compliant/damaged fire dampers with new motorised smoke/fire dampers in fire-rated builder's-work plenums. full ductwork and damper replacement, rather than the damper-only basis.

Renewal: Extensions may be used if there is programme overrun due to unforeseen events, such as discoveries.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06ea78
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/086888-2026
Current Stage
Tender
All Stages
Planning, Tender

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK4 - Tender Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Works
Procurement Method
Selective
Procurement Method Details
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

45 - Construction work

71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

CPV Codes

45300000 - Building installation work

71334000 - Mechanical and electrical engineering services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£50,000,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
£50,000,000 £10M-£100M
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
14 Sep 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
14 Sep 2026Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
22 Feb 2027 - 21 Sep 2029 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Active
Lots Status
Active
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
The Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
CITY OF LONDON
Postcode
EC2P 2EJ
Postcode Area
Central London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI4 Inner London - East
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI43 Haringey and Islington
Delivery Location
TLI London
Local Authority
Islington
Electoral Ward
Clerkenwell
Westminster Constituency
Islington South and Finsbury

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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