Ampliamento della Galleria Borghese
Ampliamento della Galleria Borghese is an international two-stage architecture competition for a functional and architectural extension of one of Rome’s most constrained museum settings. Proger S.p.A. is running the privately procured competition as technical sponsor of Galleria Borghese, with the endorsement of Roma Capitale and the CAN platform of the Order of Architects of Rome.
The phase-one deadline is 13 November 2026 at 12:00 Rome time, equivalent to 11:00 UTC. Registration and the full pre-selection dossier must both be completed by that moment. This is a restricted professional procedure with substantial turnover, experience and multidisciplinary-team thresholds; it is not an open student or early-career ideas call.
Competition overview
| Official title | Ampliamento della Galleria Borghese |
|---|---|
| Organizer | Proger S.p.A., acting as technical sponsor and client of the private competition for Galleria Borghese; Roma Capitale is listed as endorsing the initiative. |
| Platform | Competition Architecture Network (CAN), operated by the Order of Architects PPC of Rome and Province. |
| Site | Villa Borghese, Rome, Italy. The historic Casino Nobile that houses the museum is excluded from direct intervention. |
| Procedure | International restricted architecture competition in two phases: open pre-selection followed by an anonymous design phase for up to five teams. |
| Eligibility | EU-authorised architects and engineers, eligible firms or temporary groupings that meet the stated turnover, prior-work and multidisciplinary-team thresholds. |
| Entry fee | Free. |
| Total prize fund | No conventional prize fund: EUR 500,750 is the winner’s fixed PFTE professional fee; eligible non-winning phase-two teams receive EUR 25,000 each as expense reimbursement. |
| Official language | Italian. Clarifications and competition submissions must be prepared in Italian, although selected documents are also issued in English. |
| Registration deadline | 13 November 2026, 12:00 Rome time (11:00 UTC); registration must be completed with the phase-one dossier. |
| Submission deadline | Phase-one dossier: 13 November 2026 at 11:00 UTC. Invited phase-two design: 18 March 2027 at 11:00 UTC. |
Design question and site limits
The competition asks how a major museum can gain exhibition, learning, restoration, conference, retail, hospitality and digital-service space without compromising Villa Borghese’s protected landscape and historic fabric. Proposals may introduce a new volume or reuse existing minor structures, with a maximum intervention area of 3,000 square metres including external works. The historic museum building itself is not to be altered.
The winning concept must be developed to Technical and Economic Feasibility Study (PFTE) level. The brief therefore goes beyond an image exercise: competitors must address access and visitor flows, connections between museum and park, landscape and tree-stock protection, envelope and structural systems, energy performance, BIM, construction logistics and continuity of museum operations.
Eligibility and capacity thresholds
| Eligible entities | Registered architects and engineers authorised to practise under applicable European Union rules, engineering companies, professional partnerships and temporary groupings. |
|---|---|
| Required professional team | At minimum: architectural lead/coordinator, structural engineer, electrical and special-systems engineer, mechanical/plumbing engineer, landscape architect experienced in historic gardens, fire specialist, energy specialist, environmental-criteria and rating specialist, acoustics specialist, design-safety coordinator, geologist and certified BIM manager. Qualified roles may be combined where permitted. |
| Financial capacity | Architecture and engineering turnover of at least EUR 1,001,500 over 2023–2025. |
| Technical experience | Services relating to works totalling at least EUR 20 million over 2021–2025, including at least one public or publicly used building service associated with construction works worth EUR 10 million or more. |
| Participation limits | A professional may not participate in more than one team or capacity. Subcontracting is not permitted. |
| Platform access | Identification is available through SPID, CIE, eIDAS or manual registration; administrative documents require compliant digital signatures. |
Phase one: pre-selection dossier
| Methodology report | Five A4 portrait pages, plus an optional cover, explaining the proposed approach to the heritage, landscape and environmental constraints and the possible siting strategy. |
|---|---|
| Reference projects | Three projects, each presented in a maximum of five A3 landscape pages plus an optional cover. Museum extensions and related cultural projects are preferred but not mandatory. |
| Team dossier | Up to 20 A4 portrait pages covering the coordinating architect and the required multidisciplinary team. |
| Administrative file | Form A in PDF, digitally signed by the authorised representatives of the entrant or all members of an unconstituted temporary grouping. |
| Selection basis | Methodology 10 points, reference-project quality 50 points, and team curricula and composition 40 points. Up to five entrants advance without a ranked phase-one order. |
Phase two: anonymous design submission
| Strategic direction | Ten A4 pages explaining the masterplan principles, siting, landscape integration and museum connections. |
|---|---|
| Illustrative and technical report | Twenty A4 pages covering architectural quality, constraints, functionality, accessibility and environmental, energy and social sustainability. |
| Boards | Five A0 landscape PDF boards, including masterplan, context plan, plans, elevations, sections, circulation, 3D views, environmental approach and construction logistics. |
| Cost and information management | Preliminary cost estimate up to 20 A4 pages and an information-management methodology report up to 10 pages. |
| Media | Presentation video up to two minutes and 150 MB, plus one 1600×840-pixel reference image for communication. |
| Site visit | Recommended during pre-selection and mandatory for the five teams in phase two; the site-inspection certificate is part of the administrative submission. |
| Anonymity | The platform assigns the codes. Entrants must not place names, logos, mottos or identifying codes on the design files. |
Fees, jury and rights
| Estimated construction cost | Approximately EUR 10 million (about USD 11.19 million on 23 October 2026). This is an indicative works estimate, not a prize and not a binding construction cap. |
|---|---|
| Winner’s PFTE fee | EUR 500,750 (about USD 560,489), excluding VAT and statutory charges. EUR 100,000 is treated as an advance upon winning and EUR 400,750 as the balance after approval of the completed PFTE. |
| Other finalists | EUR 25,000 (about USD 27,983) expense reimbursement for each phase-two entrant whose proposal scores at least 60/100. |
| Phase-one committee | The competition manager and persons chosen by the client for expertise in the competition discipline; individual names are not listed in the reviewed regulations. |
| Final jury | To be appointed after the phase-two deadline from external professionals and recognised experts. Names will be published only after checks for conflicts with registered teams. |
| Rights | Copyright and intellectual-property rights remain with the authors. After the prize and PFTE delivery, the winning proposal becomes the exclusive property of Galleria Borghese, with author credit retained. The client may use images of ranked proposals for editorial and promotional purposes. |
Organizer, procurement status and implementation
Proger S.p.A. is the private client and technical sponsor under an agreement with Galleria Borghese dated 19 February 2026. The regulations explicitly classify the procedure as a private procurement rather than a public contract, while borrowing specified principles and requirements from the Italian Public Procurement Code. CAN provides the certified competition platform, and the Order of Architects of Rome has publicly presented the competition.
The winner receives a real professional assignment to complete a BIM-based PFTE, subject to verification of all declared requirements. That is more substantial than publication-only recognition, but it is not equivalent to a guaranteed construction contract. The client also reserves the right to suspend the procedure for justified reasons; if suspension occurs before the design phase begins, the regulations provide no reimbursement or indemnity.
✦ ArchUp Competition Review
This is a serious architectural commission because the design question is specific and consequential: how to extend a heavily visited museum within a protected urban landscape while keeping the museum and park functioning. The brief connects architectural language to circulation, landscape ecology, service integration, construction sequencing and long-term operations. The PFTE appointment and defined professional fee also give the competition a credible deliverable beyond media exposure.
The principal limitation is accessibility to the profession. The turnover, prior-work value and multidisciplinary staffing thresholds favour established practices or carefully assembled consortia; younger studios cannot treat this as a straightforward open call. Entrants must also work in Italian, secure platform identification and digital signatures, and accept that the named final jury will only be disclosed after registration and conflict checks. These conditions do not diminish the architectural importance of the brief, but they materially affect whether a team should invest in the application.
Source reviewed: official Competition Architecture Network page, English competition regulations issued for Ampliamento della Galleria Borghese, and the Order of Architects PPC of Rome presentation, accessed 25 October 2026. Currency equivalents use the European Central Bank reference rate of EUR 1 = USD 1.1193 on 23 October 2026.
Related competitions — Editors’ selection
For related archive reading, W PRIZE 2027 – CHÂTEAU D’IF examines a reversible intervention in a protected cultural setting, while the William Gladstone School new academic wing addresses a contemporary addition beside an established historic building.
Time remaining to phase-one registration and dossier submission
The official deadline is 13 November 2026 at 12:00 Rome time, converted to 11:00 UTC. Both registration and the phase-one dossier must be completed by then.
Official regulations and registration
Review the live competition documents and platform instructions before registering or uploading the dossier.
