Archinect - News

One of Zaha Hadid's final designs opens in the UAE

2022-04-11T18:50:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has officially ushered in what it says will become a “new benchmark for future workplaces” in the form of a brand new high-tech headquarters for the sustainably-minded BEEAH Group in Sharjah, UAE.

Echoing the surrounding desert landscape, the design incorporates two interconnected dune-like structures that house the company’s main offices with a central courtyard and an oasis-like water feature in between to aid in the overall ventilation of the structures.

Image © Hufton+Crow

Lightly glazed facades made of glass with reinforced fiber panels reduce the need for artificial light in the hall. The new headquarters also comes equipped with a host of green innovations such as on-site water treatment and solar-charged Tesla battery packs and will strive for LEED Platinum standards and a net-zero emissions rating using materials taken primarily from local sources.

Image © Hufton+Crow

Much like the city it inhabits, BEEAH is trying ...

Adjaye Associates unveils design for the new Africa Institute campus in Sharjah

2021-07-28T20:01:00-04:00

A new academic center will transform the skyline of the UAE’s third-largest city thanks to a partnership between a renowned architect and an ascendent academic institution dedicated to the study of Africa in the Arab world.

Adjaye Associates has released its designs for the new Africa Institute campus in the city of Sharjah. The project was announced in September following a two-year collaboration between the firm and the Institute first established in 1976.

The 343,000-square-foot plan will provide a new home for the Institute’s academic programs, which focus on African culture, languages, and the African Diaspora. Five reddish concrete blocks form a program of interconnected outdoor courtyards cooled by large overhangs and bookended by a post office roundabout in the city’s Al Mankah neighborhood.

Per the architect: “The project contemplates how one lives and learns, stimulated by this region where the language of the cour...

House of Wisdom, by Foster + Partners, opens in Sharjah, UAE

2021-03-19T18:13:00-04:00

Foster + Partners recently cut the ribbon for the House of Wisdom in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The project is a modern library concept designed as a transparent, rectangular volume with a floating, cantilevered roof. A new cultural district has been developed in this emirate of Sharjah.

Sharjah is the third-largest city in the UAE. This is the only emirate that is blessed to be geographically positioned near the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and several port towns.

In 2019, UNESCO voted the emirate of Sharjah as the World Book Capital.

The tallest focal point of the House of Wisdom is on the north side. It is a modern, vertical, spiraling magnificence of a Scroll sculpture. Ancient Arabic scrolls are protected by rolled steel plates due to the extreme hot climate and sandstorms. The scrolls are positioned centrally in front of the House, inside a formal circle of landscaping, as a “knowledge garden”.

On the west side, a central courtyard welcomes one into the main entrance ...

First phase of Zaha Hadid Architects' Aljada Central Hub will be complete in 2019

2018-10-05T14:28:00-04:00

Back in March, Zaha Hadid Architects emerged victorious in the competition to design the new Aljada Central Hub in Sharjah, UAE. Today, the firm announced that phase one of the $6.5 billion development is scheduled to be complete in the first quarter of 2019.

Rendering: Cosmoscube.

At a whopping 1.9 million square feet, the Central Hub's focal points are a large central plaza and public observation tower. The first phase of the Hub will include an outdoor cinema space for screenings and pop-ups, a food truck village, skate park, and family-friendly facilities.

The second and third phases of the project are expected to be finished by 2020 and 2022, respectively. These two phases will include the construction of: a 65,000 sq.ft. waterplay area, an “extreme” sports center, an 11-screen cinema, an adventure golf course, and a 340,000 sq.ft. community park that will have “hundreds of species of trees and plants” and numerous outdoor sports facilities — just to name...

Adrian Lahoud selected to curate inaugural Sharjah Architecture Triennial

2018-05-11T13:32:00-04:00

Sharjah is looking to transform the discussion around urban life with its new initiative, the Sharjah Architecture Triennial, which has announced the curator for its inaugural exhibition. Adrian Lahoud, dean of the School of Architecture at the Royal College of Art in London and a researcher on Arab cities, will curate the new initiative’s flagship event, to be held in November 2019.

Research work of RCA Architecture Dean Adrian Lahoud focuses primarily on urban spatial forms and large scale environmental change, particularly in the Arab world and Africa, making him a qualified candidate to establish this new triennial program for Sharjah, Dubai's neighbor and third largest city in the United Arab Emirates.

"I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to shape the inaugural edition of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial," Lahoud said, "and to find ways of supporting an emerging generation of architects, artists and scholars in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia."

Learn more about the Triennial here.