Two-stage open competition.

A competition to design the island's first pop music center in the city's southeastern Nangang District that would serve as a venue to foster a vibrant music industry for Taiwan.

The 7.65-hectare Taipei Pop Music Center will be built near the MRT Kunyang Station. It will house a main stadium with capacity seats between 4,500 and 6,000, an outdoor performing plaza that accommodates 15,000 people, a hall of fame, a digital library, live houses for performances by independent bands, and display rooms and offices for different functions.

The Taipei Pop Music Center is scheduled to start construction in 2012 and open to the public by 2014; it will allow concerts and musicals to be held regularly.

According to the department, the construction budget of the center is set at around NT$3.5 billion. Architects who are interested in joining the contest have to submit their proposals before October 19. The 7-people jury led by Lars Lerup, dean of the Rice School of Architecture, Houston Texas, will select three finalists and four Superb Design teams on Oct. 23. The four teams will be given NT$660,000 prize award, while the three finalists will be given NT$1.65 million each. The final result of the competition will be made public on Jan. 29 next year.

Architect Chang Chu, who attended Thursday's press conference, said he hoped that architects could present the distinctive atmosphere of Taipei City when designing the center.

Qualifications for Participation: (for Stage One)
1. Any licensed architect of the R.O.C. (Taiwan) is qualified to tender.
2. Any licensed architect (or Consultant / Corporation) of foreign country is qualified to tender.
3. Joint tender is available for licensed architects of the R.O.C. (Taiwan) and licensed architects (or Consultants / Corporations) of foreign countries.

Timetable:
1. Announcement of RFP 2009/07/23
2. Obtaining the RFP 2009/07/23 ~ 2009/10/19
3. Deadline for Question Submissions for RFP 2009/09/01
4. Questions Answered Date 2009/09/08
5. Stage One Material Submission Deadline 2009/10/19 (before 17:30 Taiwan time)
6. Stage One Qualification Review 2009/10/20
7. Stage One Jury Session 2009/10/22 ~ 2009/10/23
8. Announcement of the Short-lists 2009/10/23
9. Site Visit 2009/11/10
10. Stage Two Tender Submission Deadline 2010/01/26 (before 17:30 Taiwan time)
11. Stage Two Qualification Review 2010/01/27
12. Stage Two Jury Session 2010/01/28 ~ 2010/01/29
13. Announcement of the Winners 2010/01/29

Total Construction Budget:
The total construction budget (direct construction cost) is about NT＄3,500,000,000 (about US＄106,000,000) including the construction costs of various work items. The tenderer shall use this amount as the basis for estimating construction costs.

Service Fees:
The service fees for this project is a fixed fee in the total amount of NT$ 380,000,000. (about US$11,500,000)

Public Exhibition:
After the competition, the DCA will hold a public exhibition for the participant projects.