EAAF is working with the
contracting JV on the project.Architecture was a key aspect
of the project’s development.GEM’s construction site
spans 50ha in Egypt.adjacent to the conservation centre and
tasked with provided electricity and
cooling to the entire site.
PROJECT FUNDING
“About 70% of the project’s
total funding comes from Japan
International Cooperation Agency
(Jica),” Schokking explains. “When
the museum opens, everything will
be [presented] in three languages –
Arabic, English, and Japanese.”
According to Jica data, the Japanese
government’s overseas development
body provided two official development
assistance loans in 2008 and 2016
representing $800m. Funds under the
arrangements were allocated to GEM’s
construction, exhibition development,
information and communications
infrastructure, and consulting services,
including construction supervision and
procurement assistance. Schokking says
one of the stipulations of the Jica loans
was that an international consultant
is involved with the project, which
was eventually fulfilled through Hill
International joining the GEM team.
“The total plot size is around 50ha,
with the built area standing at roughly
16.5ha,” adds Schokking.
“The exhibition area is about 6.2ha.
The original contract was awarded in
2012 value was around $800m. This
went up and down a little with currency
fluctuations [and] some scope added.
“The total cost of the GEM project
is something different, but our [share
in the scheme] is around $800m,” he
explains.DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE
Irish architecture firm Heneghan Peng
won the tender to design the mammoth
structure, and construction on the
museum started in 2012. The firm’s
eventual design incorporates a series
of layers, where visitors can move
through a forecourt, a shaded entrance
hall – where the 3,200-year-old statue
of King Ramses II, weighing 83t, stands- and a grand staircase that ascends to
the plateau level where the galleries
are located and visitors can see the
pyramids from inside the museum.
“This was a design concept that really
integrates this museum with the pyramids,”
says Schokking. “That’s what it’s all about,
particularly given its location.”
For example, the slant of the structures
roof aligns with the axis from the
SITE VISIT
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