In a megalopolis, towers are the result of an increase in urban density that is pushed to the limit. They are also tied to an expression of power. In Beirut, the unjustified race upwards is totally ill suited to the city’s urban model, and this kind of architecture appears to have absolutely no relation with the public space. Thus, the construction of a new building 16,500 m2 in size for Bankmed in the Mina El Hosn neighbourhood at the foot of the bank’s historic headquarters required that we design a volume that is both balanced and adapted to its surroundings. The original building is a symbol in this city, a point of reference, and its extension cannot infringe on this reputation. The alternative we proposed is therefore not a tower, rather a hybrid shape consisting of several volumes assembled around an empty space, as if it were the photographic negative of the original building. This empty space is a servant space whose sole function is to provide light and air to the heart of the building, as in many Middle Eastern residences, where patios represent neutral outdoor spaces that serve the other rooms in the home. It thereby generates large windows that look out onto the city. This ensures communication with the surrounding buildings and strengthens the connection with the first tower. It also yielded a number of outdoor spaces that are available to the bank’s staff. Their varying orientation offers striking views of the city. The large breach cut into the southern façade is also a source of light for the atrium that shines on the rest of the neighbourhood.

The volume’s impact on the neighbourhood buildings’ access to direct sunlight is reduced and the new construction’s compact form occupies a limited amount of space to retain a closer relationship to its big sister. The building is made of three large entities. The base is a study in urban topography, where altimetry, the environment, and the program data structured the block; they also proved to be opportunities to generate singular qualities. The floors contain the offices of the bank staff. Although the workspaces are not very flexible on the inside, the building’s shape and the different empty spaces that traverse it create four morphologies of office spaces. These varied layouts are adapted to the institution’s needs and offer a diversity of usages. Lastly, the attic is a monumental belvedere that overlooks the neighbourhood. Base, offices, and crown are connected by the atrium to form a building defined by a dense external geometry at once open and closed, where interiority and exteriority are expressed with two different sets of materials.

The atrium’s inner wall is in Egyptian alabaster, a stone whose surface contains ribbons of a dark yellow honey color that at times goes to a dark red. The striated, crystalline fissures of its thin sheets render it beautifully semi-transparent. The opalescent alabaster is arranged in front of windows enclosing the passageways along the upper floors. The external façade consists of a double skin. Glassed on the inside, it is covered with a system of alternating, angled copper and glass strips that protect against the sunlight while allowing for the office windows to be opened. The envelope changes in appearance depending on the viewpoint and light, varying from coppery to reflective to moiré.

Client: HAR Etudes – Bank Med / Cost: € 14.5M excl. VAT / Surface: 16200 m² / Schedule: 2012 / Team: Bollinger + Grohmann (Structure), Flack + Kurtz (M.E.P.), DG Jones (Surveyor), Franck Boutté (HEQ), Lerch Bates (Facades)