September the 9th, 2026 – The beautiful buttermilk Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb is set to undergo renovation after over half a century of not being touched.
Since the Croatian National Theatre (HNK) building is individually protected as cultural heritage, all interventions will have to be designed in close accordance with the rules for the protection of cultural heritage. After almost 57 years since the last major renovation, the building of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb is once again undergoing a complete renovation. Poslovni reports that the last major construction renovation and reconstruction of the HNK took place from 1967 to 1969, and now the project has taken a new step — two bids have been received for the preparation of part of the conceptual design.
The renovation of the Croatian National Theatre building in Zagreb has taken a new step toward realisation after two bids arrived for the tender for the preparation of part of the conceptual design. Both are financially more favourable than the estimated procurement value of 1.2 million euros excluding VAT, as is currently understood. The most favourable bid, worth 762,400 euros excluding VAT, was submitted by a consortium of bidders led by the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the University of Zagreb, together with Studio Arhing and Toding. The second bid came from the company UPI-2M, which offered the job for 894,857 euros excluding VAT.
protected cultural heritage
The project concerns the structural, comprehensive and energy renovation of the existing building on Republic of Croatia Square, as well as two underground extensions. Under the stage, a reinforced concrete substructure is planned for the needs of new stage technology, while an underground floor would be built next to the existing building to ensure better working conditions for the three theatre ensembles. Since the Croatian National Theatre building in Zagreb is individually protected cultural heritage, all interventions will have to be designed in accordance with the rules for the protection of cultural heritage. The procurement includes projects for the structure, heating, cooling and ventilation, electrical installations, multimedia, water supply and drainage, traffic surfaces, fire extinguishing systems, and landscape architecture, including a green roof.
The architectural design is not included in this procurement because the client decided to organise it through a separate procedure. The conceptual design that will be prepared should serve as the basis for obtaining a location permit, as well as for defining individual phases of the renovation and estimating the costs of their implementation. The final decision on the selection of the contractor has not yet been made. After the opening of the bids, the public procurement procedure continues, and the deadline for filing an appeal against the bid opening procedure is ten days.
