Building Schools for the Future presents opportunities for architects and design teams of different sizes both to design schools but also to provide advice about design to those on the client side.

Consortia design teams
Most Local authorities involved in the BSF programme form a partnership with a consortium of companies which can provide all of the expertise that will be required to support the provision of world class education. Design expertise is one of the skills required and each team of companies will contain a number of architectural practices that work on sample schools during the competition to be the LA's partner. Once the Local Education Partnership (LEP) involving both the LA and the winning consortium is established, other architects may be added to the pool of designers.

The later projects may be more suitable for smaller practices as they are likely to be of a more modest scale and are not subject to the same pressures as the sample schools. Smaller practices could also join together to form a 'network' that offers both the design ability and the capacity to play an active role in the bidding stage.

The assembly and later management of the bidding consortia is usually lead by large construction or financial companies. Architects hoping to be involved in a bid or in joining the established LEP should approach these lead companies directly.

The list of LEP lead companies is published on the PfS website, together with their partner LAs.

Successful bidding companies may be seeking to set up additional LEPs in future. Other construction companies may also be planning to enter the BSF market at any time and architectural practices should cultivate relationships with likely bid leaders.

Some local authorities maintain their own framework of Architects and use them to deliver their BSF programme. These frameworks are re-tendered from time to time.

PfS also has a framework of contractors who compete to design new Academies. Each contractor has a supply chain, which includes an architect partner. This framework is currently being reprocured (February 2009).

Client Design Advisor
Client Design Advisors (CDAs) guide clients through the process of commissioning buildings thereby helping them to maximise the value and quality of their projects. Local authorities in the BSF programme are required to engage a CDA, who ideally should be an architect with education experience. The RIBA has an accredited list of CDAs and many LAs make appointments from this list but it is not a requirement that CDAs are drawn only from this source. For more information email clientdesignadvisor@inst.riba.org

Design Quality Indicator facilitators
DQI is a tool to assist with the briefing, development and evaluation stages of a design project and is an integral part of the BSF process. A facilitator is required for each DQI exercise and Architects are well placed to provide this service. For more information visit www.dqi.org.uk/schools

Technical Advisers
Architects form part of the technical advice team who support the local authorities in developing feasibility studies and option appraisals prior to the bidding process. You can find a list of technical advisers on the BSF Advisers Framework here.