Qatar Petroleum (QP) has prequalified contractors for the contract to build the Qatar National Museum. It plans to issue tender documents by the end of June.

The prequalifiers include:

• Bouygues (France)
• Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) (Athens-based)
• Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Impregilo (Italy), Qatar Arabian Construction Company (ACC) (Lebanon)
• Joannou & Paraskevaides (J&P Overseas) (Cyprus)
• Six Construct (Belgium), Midmac Contracting Company (local)
• Strabag (Austria)
• Taisei Corporation (Japan)

The successful bidder will build the museum’s steel superstructure and install the cladding and glazing on the building’s exterior. It will also complete the mechanical, electrical and plumbing works, along with some fit-out work inside the building and landscaping work outside.

QP expects to award the construction contract in September this year and the work should be completed by October 2012. The museum is scheduled to open in November 2013 when all of the other work on the project is completed.

QP is managing the construction of the project on behalf of Qatar Museum Authority.

Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, the museum will be built on two plots of land next to the existing Qatar National Museum. The two plots on the corniche cover an area of about 150,000 square metres, separated by Al-Muthaf Road.

Most of the old museum will be demolished, but the old palace building that was used by Qatar’s ruling family in the early 20th century will remain as part of the new museum complex.

The existing museum was opened in 1975 in the old palace building. By the time it was shut in 2007, it had expanded to include an archaeological and natural history museum building, a lagoon, a maritime museum, and an aquarium (MEED 12:1:10).

QP has also invited contractors to bid for the main construction contract for the Qatar National Library project.

The submission deadline for bids is 4 July. QP is managing the project on behalf of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Social Development.

QP originally awarded Turkey’s Baytur International a $245 contract to build the museum in 2005, but the project was cancelled a few months later (MEED 12:8:05).

Baytur saw off competition from Austria’s Strabag, Japan’s Taisei Corporation and Belgium’s Six Construct to win the contract.

The project was to be built on the Doha corniche between the national theatre and the general post office (GPO), a prime location for redevelopment. Piling and foundation work had already been completed on the project, but the project was cancelled before work on the super-structure began (MEED 24:2:06).