Grand Egyptian Museum

Principally supported by JICA, the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, which has a total estimated project cost of approximately $550 million, will be the largest and most important Pharaonic museum in the world, the largest museum in Egypt and one of the leading scientific, historical and archaeological study centers on the globe. The museum's twenty-first century galleries will be located in an iconic and distinctive building on the edge of the desert abutting the Giza Pyramids world heritage site. The Museum, designed by Heneghan Peng Architects, covers 3,500 years of ancient Egyptian history and houses more than 100,000 artifacts.

Following almost four years of informal discussions and pre-contract consultations and following the confirmation of project development assistance from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in May 2010, Lord Cultural Resources was appointed to the GEM project as part of Hill International’s consultancy team. From 2010 to 2017, under the original contract and three contract variations, Lord provided a range of on-site project services. These included exhibition project management and construction management advisory services, support for selecting an international exhibition designer, exhibition design and content reviews, and coordination with the client’s curatorial committee. A rotating team of more than eight Lord representatives worked directly with the Supreme Council of Antiquities’ Executive and Curatorial Committees on a multi-phase exhibition gallery development program.

Between 2018 and 2021, under a fourth variation for follow-on work, Lord’s support for the museum’s pre-opening preparations broadened substantially to include:

• An assessment of GEM operating requirements and opportunities for public/private partnerships
• The preparation of a full operating plan for GEM and other major site facilities, with Lord personnel on-site for 10 months
• Extensive participation in the preparation of tender documentation for selection of an international operations management contractor/service provider
• Service provider prequalification submission assessment and analysis, plus full tender reviews from shortlisted tenderers on site within the Project Tender Committee.