The program called for a mixed use project with a retail base and smart small apartments on the upper floors (<150sqm).

The 900sqm rectangular lot has its narrow 21m wide south side giving onto Gouraud Street, while the long sides give onto neighboring plots and the north overlooks one of the new buildings of the Gemmayzeh Village Project/CGI.  

Our entry for this competition consisted of a intricately planned layout of four apartments per floor served by a central core, illuminated by the two frontages (north courtyard and south street) and smaller interior courtyards.

Our objective was to maximize sellable BUA, so our solution adapted to the strictest definitions of the building code related to the Gabarit and other aspects. This yielded a sellable area in excess of 7,200sqm.

The project is stepped up via a beak at the 9th floor where we located four special duplex units, crowned by a two floor penthouse unit, for the developer's use.

The resulting built envelope is reminiscent of an architectural style easily adapted to the existing heritage buildings in this protected area of Gemmayzeh, while still having a pure contemporary language. This is reflected in the selection of the material from light colored stone for the base units, to a wood finish for the sloped volume, and a flat metallic skin for the duplexes. An elegant assemblage rendering the project as singular and recognizable on this street.