Archinect
Alexandre Zein

Alexandre Zein

Beirut, LB

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St Michel Tower

Located in a dense bustling residential area in Chiyah-Beirut, the 70 m tall building is an oasis that retreats a congested district that possesses only 2 % of greenery adding an elegant new landmark in the urban fabric with public spaces at the ground level and first floor (shops, café, offices) capped with a large luxurious penthouse apartment at the rooftop. The idea behind the output was to create a bold structure with an aspect that it’s unfinished. Reminiscent to the destructed and unfinished structure in Ain el Remmeneh, the vertical and horizontal structural elements were dropped to the extremity cladded with ACP panels in order to give a strong character that reminds us of this period of time with a rectilinear glass mass and a bounded deviated structural top reminiscent to the resilience of Ain El Remmeneh. The enhancement of greenery is made by the dynamic subtraction of these nude slabs bringing the exploitation to its limits and creating some sort of motion across the façade with double levels. This way, a simple rational building with a greenery that surpasses the 2% of the district will burst.

 
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Status: Under Construction
Location: Beirut, LB
My Role: architect