Riqualificazione e riconversione dell’ex Carcere di San Sebastiano nel nuovo Polo Giudiziario di Sassari

This international, anonymous, two-stage design competition seeks the technical-economic feasibility project (PFTE) for the conservation-led transformation of Sassari’s former San Sebastiano prison into a new judicial hub. The complex is a protected historic property in the city centre, beside the existing courthouse. The programme combines judicial offices, public and staff services, external spaces, and a dedicated place for the memory of the former prison.

Important: the first-prize amount is not an unconditional cash award. It remunerates development and approval of the PFTE, including revisions requested through the review process. Payment transfers the winning project’s economic exploitation rights to Agenzia del Demanio; later executive-design and construction-phase services may be negotiated separately but are not automatically awarded.

Competition brief

Site and design task

The former prison dates to the nineteenth century and forms a prominent urban block adjoining Sassari’s courthouse. The competition asks teams to reorganise the listed complex as a consolidated judicial centre while retaining its historic and memorial character. The available programme documents identify judicial offices, archives, hearing and service spaces, external circulation and gardens, public-facing functions, and a “space of prison memory” capable of receiving documents, testimony and exhibitions.

The first-stage concept must reconcile heritage protection with contemporary architecture, accessible public service, security, BIM-based information management, reduced-impact materials and ESG objectives. The brief identifies a territorial area of approximately 13,350 m² for the former prison, around 20,413 m² of existing gross covered floor area, and about 8,060 m² of open space. These figures describe the project framework rather than a licence to demolish or rebuild without regard to the listed fabric.

Eligibility and participation

Stage 1 submission requirements

Schedule

Fees, prizes and commission

Access to the platform is free, but the rules require an ANAC contribution of €220 (approximately US$247). No refund provision for that contribution is stated. Currency conversions below use the European Central Bank reference rate of 2 October 2026: €1 = US$1.1225. Values are approximate and do not replace tax advice.

Only second-stage entries scoring at least 40/100 qualify for a prize, and any unawarded amount is not redistributed. The rules describe the economic consideration included in the prizes as comprehensive; VAT, professional contributions and final tax treatment should be confirmed for each entrant’s legal and fiscal position.

Organiser and record

Agenzia del Demanio is Italy’s public economic entity responsible for state real estate. It was established under Legislative Decree 300/1999 and converted into a public economic entity under Legislative Decree 173/2003. The agency reports managing about 45,000 state properties and operates programmes for public-office consolidation, heritage reuse, temporary use and urban regeneration. Its documented portfolio includes justice campuses and the recovery of disused public complexes; the Sassari project forms part of its city-level public-property plan.

Jury and evaluation transparency

The names are not announced in advance. Under the rules, one commission will evaluate both stages and will be appointed after the Stage 1 deadline. It will contain an odd number of three to five specialists in the competition subject; at least one-third must hold the same or an equivalent professional qualification required of entrants. Names and curricula are to be published after submissions close, followed by a conflict-of-interest challenge period.

This sequence protects anonymity and allows eligibility checks, but it prevents entrants from assessing the panel’s balance of conservation, judicial-workplace, public-space and technical expertise before committing resources. The published scoring criteria therefore carry unusual importance at Stage 1.

Rights, implementation and payment

• Payment transfers ownership and exclusive economic exploitation rights in the winning projects to the contracting authority, without spatial or time limits.
• The agency may modify a winning project where required by the public interest; authors may publish their work only after the procedure concludes and must identify the competition and agency.
• Winning does not itself create a right to execute the project. Executive design, safety coordination, construction supervision and related services may be awarded through a later negotiated procedure.
• The first prize is paid in full only after the PFTE has completed the required review, revision and final-approval process.
• The €77 million intervention budget is a construction/programme investment and is separate from the €2.206 million prize pool and professional-services framework.

✦ ArchUp Competition Review

This is a substantial professional commission rather than a speculative ideas call. Its strongest feature is the clear link between competition outcome, a funded public programme and development of a PFTE. The heritage, justice, memory and urban-regeneration layers also make the brief architecturally consequential.

The workload is significant even at Stage 1: four A0 boards, a 15-page report, a five-page summary book and an A1 summary board, alongside procurement documentation. International teams should also account for the Italian-only procedure and the need to satisfy Italian public-procurement requirements.

The jury model is procedurally defensible, but the absence of named members before submission limits an advance assessment of disciplinary balance. ArchUp’s view is therefore cautious-positive: the opportunity is credible and implementation-oriented, while the payment, rights-transfer and post-win approval obligations require careful contractual review before entry.