Architects Zaha Hadid, Foster + Partners and Will Alsop have been knocked out of the race for a 拢120m job to design and build a 12,500m2 cancer centre for Guy鈥檚 and St Thomas鈥� hospital in London

The news follows a shortlisting process by the RIBA, which involved the nine teams competing to design the 11-storey building being whittled down to six this week.

The teams in contention are:

  • Anshen + Allen Associates, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Laing O鈥橰ourke
  • Woods Bagot, BDP and Brookfield Construction n Hopkins Architects and Skanska UK
  • Grimshaw, Jonathan Bailey and Bovis Lend Lease
  • Make Architects and Mace
  • Allies and Morrison, Devereux Architects and Kier Regional.

The teams will now go through to the final stage, with a decision expected over the summer.

The longlist of nine included Foster + Partners with Vinci, Zaha Hadid with Balfour Beatty and Will Alsop at RMJM with Shepherd. Foster鈥檚 partner Spencer de Grey had stepped down from the judging panel in order to allow the firm to bid.

An entry from Sir Robert McAlpine with Rafael Vi帽oly is understood to have lost out earlier.

Guy鈥檚 and St Thomas鈥� NHS Trust, which engaged the RIBA to run the competition, refused to disclose the reasons for the jettisoning of the star architects. However, one source suggested the client might have been keen to have a practical building rather than spending money on an iconic design. A separate source said: 鈥淭he key thing for the client team was to find six teams they felt they could work with.鈥�

Guy鈥檚 has also commissioned BDP and Marks Barfield to masterplan a 拢350m redevelopment of its London Bridge estate, including a further cancer centre worth 拢200m.

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