2025 Tulcea Central Area, Tulcea

TULCEA CENTRAL AREA
INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION
“TULCEA CENTRAL AREA – URBAN REGENERATION OF THE CENTRAL AREA OF TULCEA MUNICIPALITY”

The Romanian Order of Architects (OAR), with the support of Dobrogea Territorial Branch of OAR, and the Contracting Authority – The Municipality of Tulcea, are glad to announce the official launch of the ”Urban regeneration for the central area of the Tulcea Municipality – Mircea cel Bătrân Square, Unirii Street and the Trei Fântâni area” International Design Competition.

The purpose of this design competition is to select the best project for the urban regeneration of the central area of Tulcea Municipality, for the award of the design services contract.

The Mircea cel Bătrân Square represents the social and administrative center of Tulcea Municipality, easily accessible from all sides of the city and directly connected spatially and historically to the Danube embankment. The competition aims at a high-quality contemporary redesign of this space in the context of the urban regeneration of the city center and the strengthening of pedestrian connections with the Danube embankment, through the pedestrian transformation of Unirii Street and the restoration of the Trei Fântâni (Three Fountains) area.

The competition stake is to formulate a public space design proposal that considers the current built heritage and the layers that history has deposited here. The participants in the competition should take into account all the needs of the studied area — housing; public administration; restaurants, cafes and confectioneries; small commercial spaces; leisure and entertainment; culture and civic life, etc. — to enhance and situate them in an urban platform for the subsequent coherent development of the entire central area of Tulcea. The urban space proposed for design restores and strengthens the pedestrian connection of the city with the Mircea cel Bătrân Square area, the adjacent historical districts and the Danube Embankment – “Ivan Patzaichin”. The proposed designs should take into account the way of thinking and using current public space, following contemporary needs generated by climate, social, and economic changes.

In line with these objectives, proposals must integrate measures to increase shading by planting additional trees in existing deficient spaces or in newly proposed areas. Sustainability is another important factor in the design of contemporary public spaces, thus ensuring, from the very beginning, the right calibration of the investment and the sustainability of the proposed designs, resulting in reduced resource consumption in the medium and long term.

The Contracting Authority of the competition is The Municipality of Tulcea, the beneficiary of the project which will be contracted following the competition. The competition is organized by the Romanian Order of Architects (OAR), in accordance with the OAR Good Practices Guide for Design Competitions (edited in Romanian – Ghidul de bune practici în organizarea concursurilor de soluții OAR, rev. 2022), in compliance with the provisions of the legislation in force regarding the award of public procurement contracts. The Design Competition is a public, single-stage competition, open to Romania, all countries of the European Union, of the European Economic Area, and to the Swiss Confederation. The design competition is organized as an independent procedure, in accordance with art. 105 letter a) of Law no. 98/2016 regarding public procurement, and subsequently, pursuant to provisions under art. 104 para. (7) of the same law, the design services contract is to be awarded to the winner of the competition, following a negotiation procedure without prior publication of a participation announcement.