French architect picked ahead of Foster, Zaha Hadid and Fuksas to £1.79bn job in Bulgarian capital

Dominique Perrault has beaten a star-studded shortlist of architects to design a new city centre in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The French architect, known for his New National Library in Paris, beat fellow shortlisted architects Foster + Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects and Massimiliano Fuksas to the job, which will reportedly carry a budget of around €2bn (£1.79bn). Bulgarian firms Georgi Stoilov and Adais were also shortlisted.

The new city centre will be the base for several government buildings and state agencies, and will replace a complex of military and industrial buildings.

Construction will not begin before 2011, and is likely to continue for a decade.


Sofia, Bulgaria
Credit:
Streets of the Bulgarian capital