John McAslan makes California shortlist

The practice is part of a shortlist that includes the international firms Kohn Pedersen Fox, Rafael Viñoly and Peter Walker. The winner will be asked to deliver a plan for an area of more than 185,800 m² around a baseball stadium.

McAslan has teamed up with San Diego architect Safdie Rabins. Viñoly is working with New York practice Frederic Schwarz. Aidan Potter, a McAslan partner, said: "We had the guts to fly 6000 miles for the briefing and so we're very happy to get on the list. San Diego is fantastic because you can walk around the centre, unlike a lot of American cities."

He said the competition was an examples of the trend for Americans to move back to the centres of big cities. The space around the stadium can accommodate about 1300 residential units. A large part of the centre of the town will be used for mixed-use development.

A decision will be made on the winner by the end of August.

John McAslan + Partners' refurbishment of the Peter Jones department store off Sloane Square in London opened at the end of last month. The £107m, seven year project was two years in construction and was achieved without having to close the shop for a single day.