Frankfurt—Global law firm Dentons advised Witten/Herdecke University on an integrated procurement procedure for its new central university building.

The building in Witten will be the first of its kind constructed of wood-based hybrid composite and thus sets a groundbreaking standard for sustainable and eco-friendly design. The contract value is about €22 million.

A Dentons team from Frankfurt and Berlin comprehensively advised the university on the innovative integrated procurement procedure, the first step of which was a competition on architectural and conceptual design addressed to architect and construction bidder consortia. During the subsequent bidder process, bidders were given the opportunity to optimize their proposals in cooperation with the university, which attached great importance to an intensive dialogue between all users.

The university will benefit from this highly acclaimed integrated procurement procedure, through the awarding of planning, construction and operational services to just one provider. This assures a seamless coordination of architecture, construction and operational works and should enable the building to be completed within the given time and budget parameters.

ZÜBLIN Timber, a subsidiary of Ed. Züblin AG in Stuttgart, which is specialized in wood-based construction, was awarded the contract for planning, construction, financing and partial operation. The opening of the new building is planned for summer 2021.

Advisors Universität Witten/Herdecke:

Dentons (Frankfurt): Dr. Peter Braun (Partner, lead, Public Procurement Law), Dr. Holger Schelling (Partner, Banking and Finance), Michael Graf (Partner, Tax Law), Dr. Andrej Latinović (Counsel, Real Estate Law), Dr. Kai-Michael Goretzky (Counsel, Insurance Law), Tobias von Gostomski, Dr. Markus Schrader (both Counsel, both Banking and Finance), Dr. Christian Miercke (Senior Associate, Public Procurement Law).

Dentons (Berlin): Michael Brill (Counsel, Architectural and Construction Law).

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