Design, Development, Supply & Installation of Equipment for Studio Ulster

Concepts

• communications equipment
• coleraine
• radio and television equipment
• broadcasting equipment
• data transmission equipment
• television and audio-visual equipment
• sound and video equipment
• network equipment
• telecommunications equipment
• telecommunications cable and equipment

Location

North Foreshore Film Studios, Giant’s Park, Belfast

Description

Design, Development, Supply & Installation of Equipment for Studio Ulster

Total Quantity or Scope

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.

Renewal 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.

CPV Codes

• 32000000 - Radio, television, communication, telecommunication and related equipment
• 32200000 - Transmission apparatus for radiotelephony, radiotelegraphy, radio broadcasting and television
• 32210000 - Broadcasting equipment
• 32220000 - Television transmission apparatus without reception apparatus
• 32230000 - Radio transmission apparatus with reception apparatus
• 32240000 - Television cameras
• 32260000 - Data-transmission equipment
• 32270000 - Digital transmission apparatus
• 32300000 - Television and radio receivers, and sound or video recording or reproducing apparatus
• 32310000 - Radio broadcast receivers
• 32320000 - Television and audio-visual equipment
• 32330000 - Apparatus for sound, video-recording and reproduction
• 32340000 - Microphones and loudspeakers
• 32350000 - Parts of sound and video equipment
• 32400000 - Networks
• 32410000 - Local area network
• 32420000 - Network equipment
• 32430000 - Wide area network
• 32500000 - Telecommunications equipment and supplies
• 32510000 - Wireless telecommunications system
• 32520000 - Telecommunications cable and equipment
• 32530000 - Satellite-related communications equipment
• 32550000 - Telephone equipment
• 32560000 - Fibre-optic materials
• 32570000 - Communications equipment
• 32580000 - Data equipment
• 38651100 - Camera lenses
• 38651200 - Camera bodies
• 38651400 - Instant print cameras
• 38651500 - Cinematographic cameras
• 38651600 - Digital cameras
• 38653400 - Projection screens
• 38810000 - Industrial process control equipment
• 39113000 - Miscellaneous seats and chairs
• 39121000 - Desks and tables
• 39122000 - Cupboards and bookcases
• 39134100 - Computer tables
• 39156000 - Lounge and reception-area furniture
• 39294100 - Information and promotion products
• 48210000 - Networking software package
• 48220000 - Internet and intranet software package
• 48311100 - Document management system
• 48318000 - Scanner software package
• 48331000 - Project management software package
• 48332000 - Scheduling software package
• 48333000 - Contact management software package
• 48520000 - Multimedia software package
• 48710000 - Backup or recovery software package
• 48720000 - Bar coding software package
• 48730000 - Security software package
• 48750000 - Storage media loading software package
• 48760000 - Virus protection software package
• 48770000 - General, compression and print utility software package
• 48780000 - System, storage and content management software package
• 48790000 - Version checker software package
• 48810000 - Information systems
• 48820000 - Servers
• 48910000 - Computer game software package, family titles and screen savers
• 48920000 - Office automation software package
• 50340000 - Repair and maintenance services of audio-visual and optical equipment
• 51610000 - Installation services of computers and information-processing equipment
• 51620000 - Installation services of office equipment
• 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
• 72100000 - Hardware consultancy services
• 72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services
• 72500000 - Computer-related services
• 72600000 - Computer support and consultancy services
• 72800000 - Computer audit and testing services
• 80300000 - Higher education services
• 80500000 - Training services
• 92224000 - Digital television
• 92225100 - Film-on-demand television
• 92226000 - Teleprogrammation
• 92370000 - Sound technician

Indicators

• Bids should cover the whole contract.
• Options are available.
• Renewals are not available.
• Professional qualifications are sought.
• Award on basis of price and quality.

Other 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. 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.