Eleven proposals were submitted to the public tender organized by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, aiming to transform the former space of the Hotel Estoril at Tap Seac Square into a multifunctional Youth Activity Center.
From the 11 proposals initially submitted by architecture firms, only 10 were in fact considered, as one of the tenderers withdrew. The proposals range between MOP12 to MOP79.5 million.
There was significant variation between the proposals regarding the timeline for completion, ranging between 165 and 487 days.
According to TDM, several well-known offices of local architects such as Maria José de Freitas, Carlos Marreiros and Rui Leão submitted proposals. However, participation of the latter two is conditional upon submission of prerequisite documents by 10 a.m. today.
As stated in the tender rules, the proposals will now be evaluated by a jury according to a range of criteria – most relevantly, the design and price.
The public tender was established by the government after a backlash from local architects and associations that criticized a plan announced by the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, in 2015. The secretary had intended to award the project directly to the famous Portuguese architect Siza Vieira.
In 2016, Tam retracted from this position and organized an international public tender.
Some of the controversy regarding the choice of Siza Vieira stems from his proposal that the current building be completely demolished to give way to a brand-new project. This opinion is not shared by all experts, with many seeing cultural and heritage value in the building that should be preserved. RM
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