After Y. Tohme proposal and Atelier Hapsitus Version, below is the entry proposal of BLC Landmark competition by Sites – Issam Barhouch Architects
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Designing a reputable bank landmark headquarter project brings out challenges on different levels, that deal with the landmark contribution to the city urban context, challenges that deal with the bank image as a regional leader, and certainly challenges that address architectural issues such as creativity, functional needs, engineering solutions and environmental awareness issues. Dealing with an existing structure only adds up more challenges when design around it, the main idea is to keep the existing building operational for the longest time, keeping it with its current occupation, while erecting the new block that will inhabit the old building functions when done, thus ending up with a totally relocated banking functions to the new block, reconverting the old block to rental spaces, keeping the branch in the same location, increasing parking volume to cater for the future needs.
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Concept main features:
1‐ Welcome to the landmark: what good is a landmark if it cannot be shared? Freeing the ground floor and surrendering it to the public
use in a welcoming way valuable contributes to the bank / landmark image.
2‐ Dealing with the corner: the existing building never dealt with the plot corner it was erected on, it was an opportunity to reconcile the design with its urban surroundings
3‐ Connecting the dots: : Creating an urban corridor connecting the main street to the side street, thus contributing to the urban setting through a wide semi public use space, giving the project its welcoming face.
4‐ Urban landscape: Creating different (city‐scape) experiences through visual interaction or physical interaction, making the project an interesting architectural experience of spaces, aesthetics and journey quality.
5‐ Functional and architectural dialogue: wise spread of the program functions, delivering an optimized space /function correspondence. All public functions spread throughout the first couple of levels in both structures, especially in the “galette”, where the two buildings connect. Another connection yet occurs on the roof level where the executive top management floor reaches out to the best corner in the project. This same corner is occupied by the branch on the ground floor level.
6‐ Engineering adventure: “Who said that structure should not be reinvented? Who says that regime of gravity, the one regime that
unites us all, is sacrosanct; who says that reinventing structure cannot be creative? ” (Rem Koolhaas) creating an engineering challenge, and disclosing it proudly on the ground floor level, throw in an additional major feature in the landmark concept.
7‐ Environmental concern strategy: the proposal took into consideration environmental concerns with major concerns, from dealing with the layout, site setting, orientations, façade treatment, light wells, greenery and healthy working environment.
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Project Description by the architect:
The new BLC BANK LANDMARK Building in BEIRUT occupies an interesting site whose two blocks rise from a concrete framed 3 levels
lobby. Entered from both the north‐west and south east corners through large city‐scale urban corridor (sketch 1), the lobby extends the exterior surface to the inside to become a three level functional melting pot, containing all public functions, thus limiting a welcoming space for bank occasional visitors and short term occupants (sketch 2).
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Freeing the ground floor to public use was the proposal corner stone, where the project is presented a genuine public space swinging between controlled open space and sheltered yet outdoor space. This permeability is accented thought the creation of the urban corridor connecting the main Mathaf road and the secondary road, delivering two drop zones for versatile use, and marking boldly the branch on the resulting corner. The Landmark direct foot print conveys a clear message of the existence of two independent yet subtly connected entities, the old existing and rehabilitated segment and the new addition segment (sketch 3&4).
Sketch 3 - click image to enlarge
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The program is spread over the two buildings in a strategic approach, making the best usage of the corner exposure to shelter the branch, and on the roof to shelter the top management (sketch 5). The “Galette” itself plays a triple role, it symbolically shelters the urban corridor, it connects the old and the new block and it contains crucial functional needs mainly for public use (sketch 6).
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Internally, the building is conceived as a vehicle to foster collaboration and cross‐disciplinary dialogue among the colleagues, the visitors and occasional users, classically housed in separate buildings.
The vertical piazza, the programs voids, the central space for informal social, intellectual and creative exchange, forms the heart of the new bank building (sketch 7).
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From the entry lobby the ground plane moves on to the central atrium, a “vertical office space,” that rises to the full height of the building. This open connective space, spanned at various levels by sky bridges, ensures interaction throughout the building while opening up view corridors across THE MUSEUM MAIN ROAD. The atrium also contributes to the building’s high degree of physical and visual permeability. To further dissolve the boundaries between inside and outside, a semi‐transparent screen of stainless steel spans the entire width of the building, slanting and strategically breaking to allow views into and out from the building.
This stainless steel skin reduces the influx of heat radiation during the summer. The juxtaposition of steel and glass in the building’s skin system allows for heightened performance and dynamic composition on several levels: The steel screen fluctuates in its offset from the glass enclosure from one to eight feet providing a useful tool to vary the scale and texture of the facade relative to the site’s surroundings.
This variance in offset also enables selective exposure of the building’s interior and expression of its tectonic character. This innovative building skin also improves the building’s performance through control of daylight, energy use, and selective natural ventilation. Other “green” features include energy‐efficient, state‐of‐the‐art mechanical systems and the incorporation of an on‐site co‐generation plant as an alternative energy source, should be considered when designing all functional engineering solutions.
The building reverberates with light, shadow and transparency via a high performance exterior double skin whose semi‐transparent layer of perforated stainless steel wraps the building’s glazed envelope to provide critical interior environmental control, while also allowing for transparencies to reveal the creative activity occurring within.
BLC bank LANDMARK should seek distinction in every aspect, especially in visual communication, this distinction is translated into the high level of aesthetic research reflected In the façade treatment, and it is reflected as well in the way the building deals with it surrounding, thus the galette distinguished shape of controversial open shelter design, relying on cutting edge structural engineering solution that allows it (sketch 8).
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Responding to its urban context, the sculpted facade establishes a distinctive identity for BLC BANK. Because new era banking has
become more interdisciplinary, and because new thinking and new business solutions are constantly reshaping our knowledge and our needs, it is crucial for The BLC bank landmark to have a flexible, open and interactive building.
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