Architects Vie to Take Part in $470m Eiffel Tower Refurb

In anticipation of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic games, four teams of architects will compete for the chance to reimagine the Eiffel Tower visitor experience.

The shortlist, which was announced in May, is vying to improve facilities for the nearly seven million tourists that visit the tower each year.

City authorities announced plans for a €300m ($470 million) refurbishment in early 2017, with half the money to be spent on overhauling the tower and the remainder to be spent on improving visitor facilities.

City of Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said that the refurbishment was important to enhance "this symbolic monument that has such a central role in the appeal of Paris to tourists."

Related: Egypt is Spending Billions on a New Capital City

Originally designed as a temporary structure in 1889, the €300 million project is designed to improve and fix a number of issues that the tower has developed over its 128 year life.

The investment represents a significant increase on the €14 million ($22 million) the city spends annually maintaining the tower.

The approach to the landmark will be improved and redesigned, with security to be upgraded in response to a number of terrorist attacks in Paris which has seen a fall in tourist numbers.

There will also be an update to the thousands of lights that illuminate at the start of every hour in the evening.

The renovation is expected to take 15 years to complete with the most important work to be finished in time for the Olympic Games.

Related: Lendlease Revives $6.2bn East London Project

_{^{The four teams will develop their proposals using a 3D model of the tower developed by software company Autodesk.}}

Amanda Levete's London-based firm AL_A is leading the first team and working alongside landscape architects Gross Max and urban design expert Ricky Burdett.

Gustafson Porter + Bowman will be leading the second team, joined by architects Chartier and Corbasson, Atelier Monchecourt & Co, and urban planners Sathy, and Devillers & Associés Agency.

A third team is headed by French studio KOZ Architects with architects Junya Ishigami and Niclas Dünnebacke

The fourth and final team will be directed by French landscapers Agence Ter in conjunction with architects Carlo Ratti and Explorations Architecture.

The winner of the competition – called Grand Site Tour Eiffel: discover, approach, visit – will be announced in early-2019.