PREQUALIFICATION bids have been invited for the construction of a new iconic museum in Lusail, Qatar’s flagship new city. 

The project, which is being developed by Qatar Museum Authority (QMA) and managed by Lusail Real Estate Development Company (LREDC), involves the construction of a five-storey building with a basement encompassing a total built-up area of 88,000 sq m.

The museum will comprise exhibition galleries, a theatre and conventional spaces as well as an associated service area, linked to a three-storey underground car-park. The building will have a semispherical volume with a diameter of 150 m and feature a concrete cavity wall façade system and a shear stacking wall structure, indicating the extended spans of the structure.

Internally, the concrete walls will be shaped as three-dimensional curved crescents while the space will have sophisticated fit-outs and furniture.

The car-park, shaped as a double helix, will be surmounted by a 100-m open-to-sky dome.

Contractors interested in prequalifying for the project need to submit their bids this month (August 19). Bidders are required to be building contractors having previous experience in projects of similar size and sophistication, with a project portfolio that includes at least one project valued at QR1.5 billion ($412 million) or more in the past five years and have completed projects worth QR5 billion ($1.37 billion) over this period, while registering a turnover of QR2 billion ($549 million) in the past three years.

LREDC, described as Qatar’s largest greenfield developer, was set up Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company in September 2008, to develop the visionary Lusail City development.