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Howard University Alumni Selected As Finalists To Design Jamaica’s New Houses Of Parliament

Howard University Alumni Selected As Finalists To Design Jamaica’s New Houses Of Parliament

Howard
Howard University graduation ceremony in Washington, Saturday, May 7, 2016. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Five Howard University alumni have been selected as finalists in the Jamaican Government’s Houses of Parliament Design Competition.

The Howard-trained architects, an engineer, and a business and real estate development finance expert, are among the finalists competing in the multi-million dollar competition. The winners will be the principal designers of Jamaica’s New Houses of Parliament Building complex.

“Alumni Leland E. Edgecombe, Emerson C. Hamilton, Emmanuel Mdingi, Nicholette Gordon, and Victor R. McNaughton of the Department of Architecture, Cheryl P. Hamilton of the Department of Real Estate Real Estate Development and Asset Management, and Milton Evering of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, are members of The National Veranda HOP5 Design Team, one of five teams selected from hundreds of global submissions,” Howard University reported.

According to the competition website, the new Houses of Parliament Building will be located in the National Heroes Park, Kingston’s largest public park.


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The new building is part of the country’s National Heroes Park Redevelopment and Government Campus Project. It is all part of an effort to redevelop Kingston’s downtown area. Ninety-five percent of the National Veranda will be publicly accessible and feature a 10-acre recreational complex, children’s splash parks, and jogging paths.

“HOP5 team’s design sets the foundation for a reinvigorated Kingston, Jamaica, while remaining sensitive to the city’s planning initiatives and cultural identity,” says Project Landscape Architect and Urban Designer Leland Edgecombe. “Many activities within the local community will be connected throughout the overall project site, which reflects both Jamaica’s past and represents the future of the country under the new Prime Minister and government.”

The competition was launched in May 2018 and was open to international design teams that included a registered Jamaican architect.

According to the Office of the Prime Minister, the five final teams were selected from more than 200 international submissions. The winning design team will be awarded $5 million as well as an opportunity to work with the project’s contractor to execute the design. The second-place team will receive $4 million, and the third-place team will get $3 million.