Great Britain’s umbrella United Synagogue organization has issued a competition call to choose a team to design and produce the renovation plan for London’s Willesden Jewish Cemetery, founded in 1873 and with a neo-Gothic ceremonial hall and more than 20,000 graves, one of the largest and most important of England’s Victorian-era Jewish burial places. Deadline for applications is May 23.
A communique from United Synagogue said the project is “looking to add conservation and landscape architects alongside biodiversity and horticultural expertise, as well as an activity planning consultant.”
According to the contract notice,
The consultancy is required to design and produce a scheme for Architecture and Landscaping. This will include preparation of a Conservation Plan and a Management and Maintenance Plan to precise Heritage Lottery Fund guidelines and cover buildings refurbishment and adaptation, conservation of graves and other memorials, landscaping and horticultural services.
In September 2015 the London Board of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded the United Synagogue a stage one development grant of £321,000 as part of a £2 million grant proposal.
The HLF awards grants to exceptional heritage projects in two stages: development and delivery. The United Synagogue has been given 18 months to fully develop plans for the project, at which point it will have to submit plans in order to compete for the next stage.
The United Synagogue said the project
will incorporate a new visitor centre, a permanent exhibition and online education project and is the first of a number of heritage projects the US is looking to develop over the next five years in time for its 150th anniversary under a new team being developed by Alex Goldberg, the former Chief Executive of London Jewish Forum, who the United Synagogue have brought in as Consultant Chief of Heritage.
In addition, it said, “The US discovered details in archived files about the original flora used on the site, many with Biblical links, and part of the project is to develop a contemporary Biblical Garden.”
Goldberg said in a statement:
This is an exiting time for our project. Having now put a core team in place we are looking to expand the team working on this through this tender process. We are looking for Conservation and Landscape Architects and an Activity Planner who can work with us to create something beautiful and ensure the heritage of Willesden is restored and explained properly for generations to come.
We are looking to create an understanding of our past and what it means for both our contemporary community and wider society today. That is why alongside renovating the cemetery, we want to use both digital and more traditional educational tools to tell the story of our community, allowing visitors to have a better understanding of where we have come from.
View the contract notice for more information
Contact details
Hester Abrams
The United Synagogue
305 Ballards Lane
London
N12 8GB
Tel: +44 2083438989
Email: [email protected]
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