Byblos Design District: A Tale of Steel & Stone

Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Architecture, Debbieh

Project idea

Architecture, in some ways, is meant to cultivate and sustain certain cultures, representing and nourishing them. It doesn't necessarily “mimic”. but inspire those features in its own unique grammar.

In the heart of one of Lebanon's rewarded cultural sites, this project is a dynamic design district that caters to the need for innovation and creativity. It acts as a cultural and artistic hotspot that fosters collaboration and experimentation. While the building promotes technologies beyond Byblos's time, its architecture integrates within the historical city's narrative. context. and heritage.

Project description

The concept behind this project is storytelling Byblos's timeline. Being situated among various historical landmarks, its architectural character, with its unique philosophy, blends with the city's context. Ottoman mashrabiya cladding wears the Roman-like linear elements representing the sequence of the site's historical timeline.

As for its components, the hub features flexible studio spaces, advanced fabrication labs, immersive digital environments, and research and material libraries. It also includes a "design park" that roams the building with a gathering community space located in front of the structure.

Technical information

With the building's strategic location adjacent to the Roman Road and the Old Souk, it is mostly covered with curtain walls to capture its surrounding views. A double facade system is implemented onto the upper levels of the building where mashrabiya-patterned aluminum cladding, which represents the Ottoman period, is placed upfront. This perforated cladding acts as a louvre system that shields daylight from excessively entering the first and mezzanine floors.
Linear elements are covered with white plaster, an abstraction of the Roman columns, and walls are covered with stone cladding, a common and local material used in the cultural site.