Architects from Dusseldorf will design a building of over 180 meters in Sofia

"Evropa Tower" - this will be the name of the 40-storey and over 180 meters high building which will be built on the site of the former factory "Balkancar-Sredets". This became clear after the international competition for an architectural design which finished at the end of last month. The Jury, consisting of representatives of the investors, of Sofia Municipality and of the Unions of the Architects in Bulgaria and Germany awarded first place to the design of HPP Hentrich-Petschnigg and Partner KG Architectural Studio from Dusseldorf, Germany. Six architectural studios from Bulgaria, Austria, Germany and Great Britain took part in the final stage of the competition.

Subject of the competition was architectural design and the integration of the high building "Evropa Tower" as part of the future city complex in Tsar Boris Treti Street. The aim - to develop the highest building in Sofia and Bulgaria into the most prestigious business location - requires high standards of architecture and design", announced Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Management Board of ECE, investor of the project.

"It is for the first time in 30 years that an architectural competition is organised in Sofia, and I hope this will become the usual practice. The fact that a Bulgarian architectural studio is participating in the competition comes to show that we can compete with world and European standards in the construction of high buildings", said Petar Dikov, Chief Architect of Sofia and member of the Jury.

The "Evropa Park" project, amounting to nearly 500 million Euro, is a joint initiative of the ECE Group based in Hamburg, a leader in the sphere of shopping malls, and Advance Properties OOD, a company working in the sphere of real estate business. Other partners are Balkancar-Sredets AD and GTM-Angel Balevski EAD.

The whole complex will be situated on the site of a former factory in Sofia. It will be a multifunctional city complex including commercial buildings, offices, apartments, a hotel, a cinema centre and other entertainment areas. The first stage of the construction will include about 60 000 square meters of office space for rent and a trade centre of approximately 70 000 square meters.

At present "Evropa Tower" with its 40 storeys and height of about 180 meters is among the highest buildings in Sofia. The project also includes about 3 000 parking spaces.

The first stage of the construction is planned to start in the summer of 2008 and to finish before 2010. During the second stage of the project, which will start immediately after the first, apartments, additional office space, a hotel and entertainment sites with a total area of 250 000 square meters will be built.

The Lithuanian company VP Group has a project for the construction of a multifunctional centre in the capital which will have the name "Sofia Acropolis". The complex will be situated on the site of the former factory Balkancar-6th September. It will be built on an area of 200 000 square meters with a total built-up area of 750 000 square meters consisting of a 100 000 square meters trade and entertainment centre, 50 000 square meters of office space, 350 000 square meters of apartments, and 250 000 square meters of parking spaces. The first stage of the project will be realised between 2007 and 2009 and the whole complex should be finished in the year 2012.

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