City of London design competition for a new TARDIS

The City of London is opening a design competition for a 21st-century Police Box to be placed around the Square Mile.

The new police box will need to be large enough to accommodate two police officers and will have an external digital screen allowing people to have video calls with authorities and request local area information. They are expected to also store medical equipment for local emergency response.

Not the likely design – alas

The competition, being run by the City of London Corporation, the City of London Police, New London Architecture (NLA) and Bloomberg Associates.

Up to six shortlisted teams will be awarded funding to develop their idea into a design proposal, with the winning design due to be revealed in the summer.

Managing Director at New London Architecture (NLA), Tamsie Thomson, said: “The intersection of design and public infrastructure can be magical: think of Giles Gilbert Scott’s iconic red telephone boxes. And as any Dr Who fan knows, the old-fashioned blue police box has inspired many flights of fancy. Now we’re looking for another imaginative reinvention to grace the City’s streets and serve the public for years to come.”

Up to six shortlisted teams will be awarded £1,500 in funding to develop their idea into a design proposal. The winning team will be revealed in late May 2021 after which the City of London Police will start the process of raising the funding for the delivery of the selected design scheme – which are expected to cost around £250,000 per site.

The design competition details are here.