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The Smithsonian Institution is seeking offers through this Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Revitalization of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, as described herein and in the Graphics Package dated February 2, 2022, Construction Drawings and Specifications dated11/21/2022 for HMGS Revitalization, SF Project No. 1521108

The Smithsonian Institution intends to award one Multi Year Funded contract. Estimated cost range is between $30M and $40M. This announcement is open to all businesses regardless of size. The contract awarded will be firm-fixed-price. The North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) for this procurement is 236220.

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (HMSG), the Smithsonian Institution’s museum of modern and contemporary art was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft, FAIA, of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, and opened to the public in 1974. The museum is located at the northwest corner of 7th Street and Independence Avenue, SW. The building is a cylindrical volume 231 feet in diameter raised 14 feet above a paved plaza on four concrete piers. The museum building has four above-ground stories and a basement, which sits below the plaza that surrounds the building. The plaza is bordered by cast-in-place concrete walls with exposed aggregate. Gaps in these walls on the north and south sides of the plaza allow for pedestrian access to the site.

The Sculpture Garden is north of the museum, across Jefferson Drive. Sunken below the National Mall, it is bordered by exposed aggregate concrete retaining walls which match the perimeter walls of the museum plaza. The original design included discrete “outdoor rooms” on either side of a large formal open space with broad steps and a central reflecting pool. Visual and physical connection to the museum was provided via a pedestrian passage under Jefferson Drive. Planting was formal and minimized disrupting the view of the museum proper. This original design, while providing a strong iconic forestage to the museum, was austere and inhospitable to visitors by virtue of its vast open space, lack of shade, and gravel walking surface.

Between 1977 and 1981, not long after the museum and garden were opened to the public, Lester Collins was charged with improving visitor comfort and accessibility in the garden. Lester Collins was a landscape architect with a practice in Washington, DC and an advisor to the Smithsonian. The redesign incorporated additional shade trees and plantings and replaced the broad Bunshaft steps with sloped walkways and paths. The resulting garden has a central axis symmetry with mixed asymmetrical spaces organized around it. Over time, Smithsonian Gardens has added more diverse planting. While the current Sculpture Garden has addressed some of the problems with the original Bunshaft design, it has lost its visual connection as a forestage to “announce” the museum.

Over time, the Sculpture Garden has suffered from deterioration due to inherent flaws in its construction. Defects in the original concrete mix and the waterproofing have resulted in the deterioration of the Bunshaft perimeter walls. The central reflecting pool is in poor condition and a lack of stormwater management is problematic during periods of heavy rains. The underground passage was closed to the public in the 1980s due to security concerns and undesirable conditions. While it currently houses the ArtLab educational program, the facility suffers from water infiltration from above, through wall penetrations, and flooding from the trench drain at its northern edge.

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden are contributing historic elements of the National Mall Historic District and have been determined to be individually eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. As such, they need to be treated with the utmost sensitivity to avoid removing materials unnecessarily and patching and repairs must be done to match the overall historic appearance of the adjacent materials.

In July 2018, HMSG contracted Hiroshi Sugimoto as the design architect to re-envision the Sculpture Garden. Team Sugimoto developed a Concept Design in accordance with a Summary Level Design Brief. That Concept Design has been developed into construction documents by the Architect of Record, Quinn Evans Architects in conjunction with Sugimoto. That design is described more fully below as part of the “General Description of the Work.”

All of the requirements which the successful Offeror must meet concerning this project will be set forth in detail in the solicitation documents attached to this Request for Proposal. Upon the receipt of Technical and Cost Proposals and the selection of a successful Offeror the Smithsonian will execute a fixed-price construction contract.

It shall be the responsibility of the Contractor to immediately notify the Smithsonian Institution if the target dates and proposed packages of work described herein adversely affect the Contractor’s Critical Path Schedule for the final completion date of this project (927 calendar days from the Notice to Proceed). Contractors may propose an alternate schedule which illustrates the completion of the project in advance of the completion date.

This RFP is intended to provide all Offerors with sufficient information to enable them to prepare and submit offers for review and consideration by the Smithsonian Institution. The documents will be distributed electronically.

This solicitation neither commits the Smithsonian Institution to pay any proposal preparation costs nor obligates the Smithsonian to procure or contract for construction or any other services. It shall not be construed as authorization to proceed with or be reimbursed for any of the costs for any of the work specified herein.

Funding for this construction project will be spread over Fiscal Years 2023, Fiscal Year 2024 (FY23 and FY24). The construction project will be partially funded in FY23, which ends Sept 30, 2023, and the remainder of the project will be funded when FY24 federal funds become available. The cost proposal should reflect the division of costs over the two fiscal years.

The Smithsonian Institution may cancel this RFP without prior notice.

BID DUE DATE : Thursday, May 25, 2023, by 3:00PM.

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