Garden of University House, Bucharest – International Design Competition 2026

Competition Brief

The Romanian Order of Architects (OAR), together with the contracting authority — the University of Bucharest — has officially launched the International Design Competition “The Garden of University House, Bucharest.” The competition targets the restoration and functional reinvention of the garden, the old greenhouses, and the existing annex buildings within the University House courtyard. The site, known in Romanian as Casa Universitarilor, is a historically significant urban ensemble located in a central area of Bucharest, with a landscape and architectural character that has deteriorated significantly due to insufficient maintenance and uncoordinated interventions.

The competition is a public, single-phase design competition open to architects and design teams from Romania, all EU and EEA member states, and Switzerland. It is organized in compliance with Romanian public procurement law (Law no. 98/2016) and the OAR Good Practices Guide for Design Competitions (2018, rev. 2025). The winning entry will be awarded the design services contract for implementation.

Intent

The competition invites participants to propose holistic design solutions that transform the University House garden and its annex buildings into a multifunctional space for cultural and educational use. The brief calls for an integrated approach that addresses the entire garden, its relationship with surrounding urban contexts, the restoration of the old greenhouses, and the repurposing of the annex buildings. Plans under discussion include a summer theatre, exhibition spaces, a student hub, and a terrace.

Purpose

The primary aim is to select the best design solution and award the resulting design services contract to the winning team. Beyond the immediate brief, the competition frames the intervention as a model for responsible urban regeneration — one where architectural quality serves both heritage protection and contemporary community needs. The site covers approximately 1.5 hectares, of which around 8,900 square meters is green space. The design contract has an estimated duration of 60 months.

Requirements

Participants must register to take part in an organized site visit before submitting. Two rounds of questions are permitted within defined deadlines. Projects must be delivered by the submission deadline in full compliance with the competition brief. The competition is evaluated anonymously by the jury. Full eligibility and submission requirements are available on the official OAR competition page.

Key eligibility: teams must include at least one licensed architect from Romania, an EU/EEA country, or Switzerland. The competition is structured as a single-phase open call with no pre-qualification stage.

Jury

The competition jury includes both full members and deputy members. The named jury members are:

Full Members (Titulari):

1. Imke van Hellemondt – Landscape architect (international member)
2. Francesca Torzo – Architect (international member)
3. Giuseppe La Mastra – Landscape architect (international member)
4. Toader Popescu – Architect and urbanist, Romania
5. Kazmer Kovacs – Architect, Romania
6. Marian Preda – Rector, University of Bucharest (Contracting Authority representative)

Deputy Members (Supleanți):

1. Sorin Istudor – Architect, Romania
2. Stefania Tirca – Architect, Romania
3. Bogdan Guiu – Architect, Romania
4. Razvan Papuc – Vice-Rector, University of Bucharest (Contracting Authority representative)

Fees

Rewards

Dates

✦ ArchUp Competition Review

This competition is organized by OAR — the Romanian Order of Architects — a nationally and internationally affiliated professional body with a well-documented track record in organizing public design competitions, including several notable projects in Bucharest such as the Colentina Lakes and Lacul Morii commissions. The jury is transparent and notably strong: three of the six full members are international figures, including landscape architect Imke van Hellemondt and architect Francesca Torzo, whose inclusion signals genuine ambition for the level of evaluation. The competition is a professional procurement procedure, not a conceptual exercise — the first-place prize is a real architecture and landscape design contract valued at over 516,000 euros, making the design effort directly proportional to the opportunity. The secondary cash prizes of 28,000 euros in total for runners-up are reasonable for this category of competition. The brief targets a heritage site with genuine urban significance in central Bucharest, and the scope — garden restoration, greenhouse reactivation, and annex repurposing — is substantive but well-bounded. For professional offices with relevant experience in heritage and urban design, this is a credible, well-structured opportunity with a clear path to built realization. Browse more international architecture competitions on ArchUp for comparison.

Final Thoughts

OAR has established itself as one of the more rigorous competition organizers in Eastern Europe. Its use of international juries, blind evaluation processes, and structured post-competition publication of all entries gives its competitions a level of procedural credibility that is not always present in the region.

This particular competition targets a site of real urban significance: the University House garden is a central Bucharest landmark that has been underutilized for years. The brief is practical and built-outcome oriented — this is not a conceptual ideas competition. Whoever wins will be directly contracted to develop and deliver the design.

The jury composition is one of the stronger aspects of this competition. The presence of Francesca Torzo — a Swiss-Italian architect of international standing — and landscape specialists Imke van Hellemondt and Giuseppe La Mastra brings genuine external perspective to a competition that could otherwise risk becoming an internally circulated Romanian exercise.

The timeline is tight: roughly two months from launch to submission. Teams considering entry will need to move quickly on site analysis and conceptual development. The structured two-round Q&A process, however, provides a reasonable mechanism for clarification.

For practices with experience in heritage restoration, landscape design, and urban programming, this is a substantive competition with a direct built outcome, a transparent process, and a jury capable of making a meaningful evaluation. Teams without prior experience in Romanian procurement procedures should review the relevant legal framework before registering. You can find comparable opportunities in our coverage of international design competitions on ArchUp.

Registration Deadline

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