The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) selected the architectural design for its future headquarters, last Tuesday, December 29, 2009, at an award ceremony held at the Sheraton Addis Hotel.
 

The bank invited tenders from interested architectural firms in May 2009 and a jury of five Ethiopian architects, one Hungarian architect and one German architect evaluated 21 entries to select a design for the 42-storey building as a plan for its future headquarters. The jury was assisted by three deputy jurors, a technical committee of five and a technical advisor. Members of the Association of Ethiopian Architects were in the technical committee.

The selected design, which was awarded 200,000 Br, was developed by Henn Architekten, a German firm, assisted by Universal Consultants, a local firm. Second and third prizes of 150,000 Br and 100,000 Br were given to Geluk Treurniet Architekten of the Netherlands and Geretta Consult, a local firm. The collaborating firms were SB Consult, a local firm, and Al Ajmi Engineering Consultants of the United Arab Emirates, respectively.

Henn's design was chosen because of better functionalities such as ventilation, day lighting and vegetation, the jury said during the award ceremony. Other criteria included security, access to people with physical disabilities and information technology installations.

CBE expects to give service to 2,000 people daily.

"The new building will not only bring all its organs under one roof, but will also reduce communication expenses," said Bekalu Zeleke, president of CBE, in a statement he gave to the gathering of architects.

CBE has secured a 10,528sqm plot in the Kirkos District, along Ras Desta Damtew Street next to the Ethiopian Hotel from the Addis Abeba City Administration. The plot on which Brook Clinic rests has also been given to CBE following its request for extra land.
 

One of the firms that had participated in the design competition told Fortune that the bank will spend about one billion Birr for the construction, although bank officials say that the construction and consultant costs are to be determined by negotiation. Construction is not expected to begin before the end of 2011.
 

CBE plans to build an additional 17 buildings in Addis Abeba to move its branches from rented facilities to owned ones. The sites CBE targeted are Ayer Tena, St. Joseph Church, Amist Kilo, Lafto, Gotera, Megenagna, Tewodros Square, Africa Avenue (Bole Road), Kirkos, Wello-Sefer, Mexico Square and Lideta. Construction work started for the Megenagna building last Thursday, December 31, 2009.
 

CBE was first headquartered at the building next to the Ethiopian Television and Radio Agency Head Office on Churchill Avenue, which it shared with the National Bank of Ethiopia. It then moved to the white round building next to the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation La Gare Branch on Gambia Street. The 65-year-old bank has 205 branches across the country, with 46 in Addis Abeba.