The expansion of Palatul Victoria (Victoria Palace), the Romanian government's current headquarters, a project initiated in 2007, is being delayed for bureaucratic reasons, but the Dutch architects who designed the new building say the project is a necessity as the old building needs to be seismically retrofitted.
According to constructions experts, in crisis situations the state is the one that has to boost investments in this sector by starting to erect administrative buildings, reads Business Construct monthly in its March 26 issue. "We're confident the project will be eventually developed (...)," stated Pero Pujiz, the representative of Architekten Cie Dutch architecture firm. The surface area of the entire complex will be of about 30,000 square metres, which means the current working area will double.
The architectural plan was selected by a commission made up of nine experts, of whom only four were Romanian, in the wake of an international contest, also attended by companies from France, Great Britain and Germany.
As winners, the Dutch architects drew up the feasibility study, the technical and execution project and will provide technical assistance during works. At the start of the project, the total value of the construction, in addition to the retrofitting of the old building, was put at 32.1m euros, of which almost half was to go to the construction of the new building. At present, the company's representatives estimate total costs at 50m euros.
The new government building will be erect behind Victoria Palace and will retain the current form of the old building, but unlike it, will have three underground floors with parking lots and another two storeys on top. The current building has only four storeys. "The expansion of Victoria Palace will follow the lines of the current building. In principle, we're creating a mirror image of the current building, but we'll use materials such as steel and glass. We want to create a feeling of openness, different from the old building, where materials such as stone and marble dominate the entire building. Exposing as much as possible of the building to sunlight primarily makes it more energetically efficient," Puljiz added.
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