THE National Railway Museum is expected to announce the names of the five architect/design agencies shortlisted for the £16.5 million project to design the museum’s new Central Hall very soon - possibly this week.

An NRM spokesman was unable to reveal how many expressions of interest had been received. But he said a shortlist of five was expected to be announced in the next dew days.

The Press has learned that one bid has been submitted by a consortium of York-based architects and designers calling itself York Collaborative Futures. “We wanted to celebrate the local expertise, talent and knowledge of the city,” said Alexa Stephens of York-based PPIY Architects, which is leading the York Collaborative Futures bid.

“So often to our disappointment these large schemes go to large well known London firms, quite often ignoring the local talent on offer. We believe that living and working in York we are in a unique position. We are on the doorstep, we have the knowledge and experience needed for this project (and) our consortium bid means that we are able to challenge the London firms in size and experience.”

As well as PPIY, the York Collaborative Futures bid includes four other local architect practices - Native Architects, Carve Architecture, Ferrey and Mennim and Silver Stories - plus design agency Kaizen Arts, the My Future York group which led consultations on York Central, and engineering giant Arup.

Rebecca Carr of Kaizen Arts said it was ‘really important’ to involve people with local knowledge and a commitment to the city in such a major project. “I grew up going to the NRM. It was part of my childhood,” she said. “An architect from Germany or Japan wouldn’t have the smell of the NRM in their nostrils in the same way.”

The NRM said once the five shortlisted bids had been announced, they would be invited to submit more detailed proposals for assessment in February. Drawings and plans would then go on show for members of the public to comment on, a spokesman said.

The NRM’s expansion plans - which would form part of the York Central regeneration - have already been pledged £18.5 million of government funding.