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Canadian tenders chosen to develop Taipao museum

The National Palace Museum selected a Canadian company as the consultant for the planning and development of a branch to be built in Chiayi County, museum sources said yesterday.

Beating contenders including US-based E. Verner Johnson & Associates and a Taiwan-Japan consortium, Lord Cultural Resources Planning and Management was awarded a NT$40 million (US$1.19 million) contract to plan the development of the proposed southern branch.

The company's experts are expected to stay in Taiwan for seven months to work on the project.

The contract, which is part of the 10 new national development projects, will include the building of a modern museum in Taipao in Chiayi County, as well as infrastructure development in the vicinity of the main building. The project has an initial price tag of NT$6 billion (US$180 million), National Palace Museum Director Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) said.

According to Tu, Lord was selected because the company was experienced in similar planning work in Europe as well as in Asia.

The company maintains a consultant team in Hong Kong and it is known for its openness in cooperation with its counterparts, Tu said.

Five out of the seven judges on a panel formed by the National Palace Museum gave Lord the highest marks, Tu said. The judges included Robert Anderson, former director of the British Museum, and Stanford Anderson, director of the Department of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Although the budget for the new branch of the museum is yet to be passed by the Legislative Yuan, Tu said he was hopeful that it would be approved.

Authorities are expected to decide in March on a consulting team of engineering and building specialists, who will in turn choose builders and developers for the project, Tu said.
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