THE international competition to design the £25m replacement for the Ross Bandstand in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens is being run by a London-based consultancy despite the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) being involved in the initial planning of the contest.

Malcolm Reading Consultants of London was awarded the contest contract – expected to earn them a six-figure sum – by the Ross Development Trust despite the RIAS offering to do the competition on a not-for-profit basis. It is the second time in a few months that the RIAS has lost out on organising a major architectural competition in Edinburgh to a London consultancy, the contest to design new £45m concert hall for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra now being run by Colander Associates. The replacement of the Ross Bandstand is the brainchild of Apex Hotels founder Norman Springford, which makes the award to Malcolm Reading embarrassing for the RIAS as his son Ian, the well-known Edinburgh architect, is a Fellow of the RIAS.

Entries for the competition must be in by March 13. A shortlist of design teams will be selected and it is expected that a jury will make the final decision in August. The National revealed earlier this month that the chosen design team will face formidable obstacles due to the Bandstand being in Edinburgh’s city centre UNESCO World Heritage site with almost all development in Princes Street Gardens regulated by an Act of Parliament.

Malcolm Reading has experience of Scottish design competitions, the last major one being the aborted project for the development of the City Garden at Union Terrace Gardens in Aberdeen.

One leading internationally-renowned architect, who spoke to The National on condition of anonymity, said: “Why not the RIAS? They have organised 300 to 400 competitions over the years.

“Why do British competitions always seem to be done by London people? It beggars belief frankly that the RIAS is not doing this.” Bandstand owners Edinburgh Council are working closely with the Ross Development Trust, though have yet to commit to any funding. RIAS staff consulted council officials in the early stages of the planning for the competition.

Neil Baxter, secretary of the RIAS, said: “We were delighted that we were approached when the idea was first mooted and we were involved for some time in consultations with the council, for example, for which we were paid a fee. We are a charity and we charge on a non-profit basis, so it is very frustrating and disappointing that we will not be working on this competition, particularly as we have experience of running hundreds of competitions. We don’t know what we have done wrong.”

Council sources say the fact that the competition is being run from London is nothing to do with the council’s involvement.

A council source said: “The development agreement the Council has is for the Trust to run the design competition. It is in their interests to secure who they think will best deliver what is required.”

A council spokesperson said: “The Council and Ross Development Trust are working in partnership to re-imagine this unique part of West Princes Street Gardens. The design competition is being managed by Malcolm Reading as appointed by the Trust. We welcome the progress of the brief to date and look forward to seeing a shortlist of potential architectural teams drawn up for the site.”

David Ellis, project director and trustee with Ross Development Trust, said: “As one of the leading European hosts of International Design Competitions, Malcolm Reading Consultants were selected to manage the process of selecting a design team for the new Ross Pavilion.

“MRC have a global audience and by commissioning them the RDT is confident in attracting the best architects the world has to offer, which is what we believe our city and this project specifically deserves.”

There was no reply to The National’s contact with Malcolm Reading.