This competition entry for an Institutional building is located at the intersection of the high rise financial district and the cultural bay stretch. Iconic by its subtle yet influential implementation, it sets the grounds for a timeless landmark on Doha’s historical shoreline.
As a strong integration gesture towards the existing office headquarters, the existing building’s systematic grid is expanded across all the land to set a consistent framework, direction and scale for the project’s realization. To further reinforce this bond, the scheme is first envisioned as an impressive regular canopy of palm trees, from which zones are subtracted to allow for the three wings to anchor. The scheme is therefore an elegant and distinctive profiling of reinterpreted and versatile canopies that would cast soft alternative cascading shadows at all time.
 
Reflecting on the traditional courtyard typology, each wing functions around a delicately curved sculptural patio flooded by soft indirect light and is surrounded by rhythmic colonnades in between which perforated surfaces exquisitely filter excessive sunrays. The luxurious spatial environment is then protected and benefits from a well-balanced and optimized micro-climate throughout the year.
 
The landscape further reinforces the project’s belonging to the context, existing structures and environment. It acts as a living platform, a unifier and a connector. The pixelated grounds become a catalyst for the project’s perpetuity through self-regeneration. It preserves a mineral palette at the heart of the main spine, and gradually evolves towards a variety of green native species that expand vertically in thick lush green edges that dialogue with the powerful blue shoreline.  Seen from the sea, the intervention’s succession of reflective white and bold green canopies perfectly aligns while elegantly setting a timeless and unique momentum to Doha’s coastline.
 
The site will serve as an example of best practice and presents a rare and critical opportunity to influence large scale development with a visionary social and environmental ethic. The proposed building tackle the right issues related to Doha climate and presents a list of strategies that offers visual and thermal comfort to its users. The aim of the energy concept is to achieve optimal environmental conditions with a minimized energy demand. This is structured in three steps: meeting as much of the demand as possible with passive means, meeting remaining demands with high-performance building-integrated systems, and sourcing those systems as much as possible with renewable sources.

architecture: nabil gholam architects
3D images: nabil gholam architects