Giant's causeway visitor facilities

The subject of this design contest is the provision of new visitor facilities for the Giant\'s Causeway, located on Northern Ireland\'s North Antrim Coast, within the Causeway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The new facilities will replace those currently in existence and deliver a world class solution for the interpretation and presentation of the Giant\'s Causeway and its context, at a level commensurate with its standing a World Heritage Site.
The design contest is for Architecture, Landscaping and Access.
The competition has received the approval of the International Union of Architects (UIA) and consequently follows the
provisions of the International Recommendations for Competitions in Architecture and Urban Planning adopted by the General
Conference of UNESCO on 27.11.1978.

Please note that it is the intention of NITB to establish a new company to manage the design, build and operation of the new Giant,s Causeway visitors facilities. This company will be wholly owned by NITB and will be the new contracting authority for all contracts relating to this project.
The Giant's Causeway is Northern Ireland's premier visitor attraction. It has an iconic status, both in terms of its natural forms
and its mythological connections. In acknowledgement of the geological, scientific and educational importance of the site, the
Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast was inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1986. The World Heritage Site is located on Northern Ireland's North Antrim Coast.
The Causeway Coast is characterised by the stepped profile and rocky knolls of the Middle Basalt. It is a high plateau landscape with a distinctive rugged coastline where vertical basalt, rough grass, scrub and lichen covered cliffs. The coast includes unique formations of basaltic columns, stacks and needles, most notably the Giant's Causeway. This is an exposed landscape of windswept trees and hedgerows, hedge banks and broken walls. Gorse on rocky knolls separates small fields of rough and semi improved grazing. It is world famous for its spectacular and pristine coastal scenery of dramatic cliffs and sandy bays.
As bidders are aware, whilst DETI is promoting the project, the intention is to establish a new special purpose company, to be wholly owned by NITB that will enter into the services contract with the preferred bidder, any questions relating to this should be notified to the authority in the response to tender.