United Kingdom-Coleraine: Design, Development, Supply & Installation of Equipment for Studio Ulster

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2023/S 000-028546/EN)
Nature of contract: Supply contract
Procedure: Competitive dialogue
Type of bid required: Global bid

Contract notice
Supplies

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: University of Ulster
Postal address: Block X Room X031, Cromore Road
Town: Coleraine
Postal code: BT52 1SA
Country: United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 2870124515
Email: a.todd@ulster.ac.uk
Internet address(es):
Main address: www.ulster.ac.uk

I.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge,at:
Additional information can be obtained from:
the above mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted:
electronically via:
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Education

Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title: Design, Development, Supply & Installation of Equipment for Studio Ulster

Reference number: project_27819
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 32000000
II.1.3) Type of contract: Supplies
II.1.4) Short Description: Design, Development, Supply & Installation of Equipment for Studio Ulster
II.1.5) Estimated total value:
Value excluding VAT: 2000000.00 Currency: GBP
II.1.6) Information about lots:
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
32000000, 32200000, 32210000, 32220000, 32230000, 32240000, 32260000, 32270000, 32300000, 32310000, 32320000, 32330000, 32340000, 32350000, 32400000, 32410000, 32420000, 32430000, 32500000, 32510000, 32520000, 32530000, 32550000, 32560000, 32570000, 32580000, 38651100, 38651200, 38651400, 38651500, 38651600, 38653400, 38810000, 39113000, 39121000, 39122000, 39134100, 39156000, 39294100, 48210000, 48220000, 48311100, 48318000, 48331000, 48332000, 48333000, 48520000, 48710000, 48720000, 48730000, 48750000, 48760000, 48770000, 48780000, 48790000, 48810000, 48820000, 48910000, 48920000, 50340000, 51610000, 51620000, 72000000, 72100000, 72200000, 72500000, 72600000, 72800000, 80300000, 80500000, 92224000, 92225100, 92226000, 92370000

II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
Main site or place of performance:
North Foreshore Film Studios, Giant’s Park, Belfast

II.2.4) Description of the procurement:
The Vision for Studio Ulster (SU) is to be a leading Commercial Centre of Excellence in Virtual Production (“VP”) in the UK and Ireland and to establish a ‘Tier 1’ Centre of Excellence in Research and Development and Innovation (R&D&I), in Real-time and Virtual Production, a rapidly developing suite of technologies and methodologies for screen content production.
Located on the North Foreshore in Belfast, the development of SU in conjunction with the Belfast Harbour Film Studio complex creates a unique blend of facilities, that will drive commercial activity and collaboration in R&D on an unprecedented scale involving all strands of production and technology professionals involved in the virtual production, film, broadcast, animation, games, VFX and immersive sectors.
The successful appointed Economic Operator will develop technical proposals for the equipment that will allow SUL to deliver on the final Business Plan objectives. The design solutions presented should be based on the Economic Operator’s IP and best practices from experience to date in the VP sector.
SU is a fully funded project, with Contracts for Funding executed and all associated legal agreements with Belfast Harbour in place.
The project benefits from £25.2m (£21m excluding VAT) through BRCD, both contributions to support the initial development of the SU VP studio and to part-fund life cycle replacement costs for the specialist VP equipment, within the first 10 years of operation. Ulster University has committed £3.6million from its own funds and has secured a further £2.9m from the UK Levelling Up Fund. These sums represent the total scale of the SUL investment, inclusive of miscellaneous costs for items outside of this Competition (loose furniture, fees, marketing, branding etc).
The successful tenderer will develop the design, procure, delivery, install, test and commission the specialist equipment and provide all necessary training to SUL in the operation of the equipment.
II.2.5) Award criteria

II.2.6) Estimated value:
Value excluding VAT: 20000000.00 Currency: GBP
II.2.7) Duration of the contract,framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
End: 2024-07-31
This contract is subject to renewal: no
II.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
Envisaged minimum number: 3
Maximum number: 4
Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates: 1. Experience in in Design, Development, Delivery & Installation of large-scale VP facilities
2. Economic Operator Experience in Design, Development, Delivery & Installation of large MoCap studio
3. Economic Operator Experience in Design, Development, Delivery & Installation for integrated IT Infrastructure Solution
4. Economic Operator Key Team Member Experience
5. Economic Operator Experience in Development & Application of Highly Innovative Solutions to VP Pipeline

II.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted yes
II.2.11) Information about options
Options yes
Description of options: The final contract will include the requirement for all planned maintenance of the Equipment for a minimum 3-year period from the date of handover to the Client. This will include the provision of all necessary spares / replacement parts and consumables as required.

II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:no
II.2.14) Additional information: Ulster University welcomes interest from all suitable potential providers. However, interested parties are advised that they must ultimately satisfy the minimum requirements at Stage 1 (selection) that will be set out in the procurement documents, in order to be selected to proceed to Stage 2 (dialogue) of the procurement process.

Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information
III.1) Conditions for participation
III.1.1) Suitability to pursue the professional activity,including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers
List and brief description of conditions:As stated in the procurement documents.
III.1.2) Economic and financial standing
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
III.1.3) Technical and professional ability
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents

Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure:
Competitive dialogueIV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement(GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: yes
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date: 2023-10-27 Local time: 23:59
IV.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted:EN
IV.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tender must maintain the tender
Duration in months:9(from the date stated for receipt of tender)

Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1) Information about recurrence:
This is a recurrent procurement: no
VI.2) Information about electronic workflows
VI.3) Additional information:
Market sounding exercise was undertaken in 2 stages; the initial exercise was concluded in February 2020 by the Ulster University for the purpose of ascertaining the potential scope, scale, technical nature, and costs associated with the various element of the Virtual Production equipment and associated systems on the Studio Ulster project consistent with the project budget.
This exercise was conducted by university client advisor and Industry advisors with a range of potential suppliers and users in the industry. This exercise was aimed at identifying requirements for hardware, software and systems to support a Virtual Production facility.
Consultations were conducted in 3-pronged approach as follows.
1. Hardware – consultation with suppliers of this technology to help inform the technical & spatial requirements for the building, services and budget.
2. Software/systems – consultation with specialist suppliers and demos of software solutions on the market.
3. End Users engagement. Based on first 2 steps indicative technical specification was formulated and shared with end users (specialist in their respective fields) to validate findings from previous steps.
The second phase of pre-market engagement was undertaken in between September to December 2021 by the project team in order to inform the procurement strategy. This process was a questionnaire-based process accessed via the University webpage.
These market sounding exercises have culminated in the current procurement approach and technical performance requirements.

Ulster University shall include the information shared with suppliers during the marketing sounding exercise along with summary of key findings within the PQQ stage of the process.
The University also undertook a Competitive Dialogue competition between late 2022 and July 2023 seeking an Operator and Delivery Partner; this Competition included the Operation of the Commercial facilities of Studio Ulster for a period of no less than 10 years, as well as the design, supply, and installation of the specialist equipment itself. A number of market factors resulted in this competition concluding without identifying an appointable bidder. SUL will now be expanded to operate all aspects of the facility.
The quantities, which it is anticipated will be required under this Contract, shall be set out in the final tender stage of the competition within in the Commercial Submission. This information is given for the guidance of the tenderer and is not deemed to be a condition of Contract or a guarantee of minimum demand or uptake. No compensation will be payable to a tenderer should the actual demand be less than that stated.
Further, the delivery of service as to be provided by this tender is demand led. Changes which may affect the demand may include, but are not limited to, technological upgrades / changes within the virtual production marketplace. Such changes may result in unanticipated workload growth which is higher than the levels accounted for within this tender. To be able to offer continuing service delivery as provided for by this tender the University reserves the right to commission additional product volumes over the life of the contract period, including any extension period(s) if utilised. This clause is to provide compliance with paragraph 72(1)(a) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015.
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Official name: High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland
Postal address: Royal Courts of Justice, Chichester Street
Town: Belfast
Postal code: BT1 3JY
Country: United Kingdom

VI.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:
Ulster University will incorporate a standstill period at the point information on the award of the contract is communicated to tenderers. The standstill period, which will be for a minimum of 10 calendar days, provides time for unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into. The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or are at risk of harm by a breach of the rules to take action in the High Court (Northern Ireland).

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:2023-09-27