The
plot is divided in 25m squares. The hundred-meters façade on Al-Malik
road is dedicated to the city : the building has to offer a major public space
in order to be a lasting landmark in Jeddah ; it offers a 25X100m covered parvis.
With an impressive city-scaled arborescent colonnade shading this place on the
main facade, it proves its will not only to participate in the city life, but
also to generate it. The remaining 100X50 m space is divided into three blocks:
A 50X50m block houses the office spaces ; a 25m X50m glazed space that acts
as a urban-scaled display houses all the cultural parts of the program. These
two elements rest under the same thin and light flying roof that covers the
parvis. They are both accessed via the courtyard that stands between them. The
courtyard becomes a meeting point, allowing extensions of the exhibition and
cafeteria spaces, thus creating a constantly animated and lively plaza.
I- The office block is four floors high. Its main entry is located within the
courtyard, while a slit on its west side provides a VIP entrance to the two
adjacent volumes, while giving a strong sculptural strength to the whole block.
Just under the flying roof, the fifth floor can be compared to a small city
where heads of the commission have their own private and detached offices volumes.
It is covered by a high-tech structural skins, whose openings are defined by
a traditionnal islamic geometric pattern scaled to reach an architectural size.
II - The cultural block is a transparent box that works as a city-sized display
for all the exhibits, which can be seen from outside. The concert hall is a
gigantic and mysterious green-blue glossy shape, hanging within the space like
an inviting spaceship. The library is also a suspended volume, while the cafeteria
and the exhibition spaces mix with the entrance that opens towards the courtyard.
III - The courtyard is 25 m wide and 50m long. It shares its high tech roof
and glossy white marble floor with the parvis. It is located behind the monumental
door. It acts as a meeting point where the cafeteria and the exhibition can
extend at any time. It is large enough to welcome large events, such as outdoor
concerts.
The parvis is the part of the project that welcomes and invites visitors, passer-bys
and employees. During the night, the highlited arborescences give it a magic
sense of depth. During the day, the natural lighting control devices within
the roof gives this place beautiful light conditions and confortable shadows.
The colonnade supports the roof, which appears like a paper sheet flying over
the complete project. Its lightness and high-tech perforations give it an impressive
magical nature, reminiscent of the islamic domes that used this highly complicated,
stalactite-like geometry. The building is only six floors high, but the colonnade
that flanks it reaches the room in one single 25m jump, giving it a monumental
scale that creates a landmark for Jeddah.
While extending Islamic Architecture principles to a glorious contemporary achievement,
the project gives the commission the place it deserves in Jeddah, and enforces
its place in the cultural space of international prestigious architecture.
