The jury decided that the new headquarters will be built according to a design proposed by the Dutch consortium De Architekten CIE. Government officials declined to say how much the building will cost. The head of the Prime Minister's Office, Dorin Marian, said a budget for construction will be determined following a feasibility study for the project.
However, experts say the government could spend up to €40 million on its new HQ. The Rector of the "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism, Emil Barbu Popescu, put forward this figure by estimating the construction costs at €700-1000 per sqm, for some 35-40,000 sqm, which makes up the total surface of the building. In fact, the cost was not a criterion for the nine-member jury.
"This was not a requirement. This is a project to be done once in a century," Barbu Popescu said. The only criteria for selection were esthetics and functionality of the new building. The winning project "stood out due to its clarity, by the way it managed to incorporate the existing building, and to offer a dignified and representative architecture," according to the jury's chairman, Dan Hanganu. The six finalists for the new HQ project were four French groups, a German group and the winning Dutch group.
Construction work is to begin in 2008 and due to be completed in two years. The entire government apparatus will move to the new wing in 2010, and the existing building will be used for protocol activities.
