THIS dramatic image shows how the riverside alongside York’s Guildhall could look once the city council moves out.

The design is one of five shortlisted entries in an international competition intended to explore potential future uses for the area after the authority moves to its new headquarters next year.

A judging panel selected the five designs from 36 entries, which included submissions from as far away as Russia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Panel chairman Keith Williams, an adviser to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), which ran the competition in conjunction with the council, said there had been an excellent response.

“The quality of the schemes received was for the most part exemplary,” he said.

“The five shortlisted schemes encompass a very diverse and intelligent set of design responses, each of which put across very clear strategies as to how this this extraordinary series of buildings and spaces could be transformed.”

City leaders had asked for innovative design proposals for the historic riverside complex and nearby boatyard to maximise the benefit to the city and its residents.

The shortlisted schemes, by Architecture & Urbanism Studio, London, Jak Studio, London, Robert Loader Architect, London, Nicholas Mills Architect, Edinburgh and SEC JV Architects, Cumbria, will go on display at the York Explore Library between next Sunday and Tuesday in the Marriott Room during normal opening hours, when residents can give their views.

Panel member Julie Gunnell, the council’s cabinet member for corporate services, said the Guildhall and associated spaces were a significant part of York’s cultural and civic history.

Brian Clarke, managing director of Yorkboat, which is sponsoring the competition with York Civic Trust, said: “It’s great to get new ideas particularly for this important part of the city. This competition is a great idea and I am sure that it will generate some blue-sky thinking.”

The teams will present their designs to the judging panel at a final interview on December 4, when the winner will be chosen.

The winning design will collect a £5,000 prize and guide how the area is eventually developed, although a council spokeswoman said the authority would still have to go through the relevant procurement process for the eventual design and build.