Gulf Construction Online - Distinctive designs to dot the skyline

Kuwait

Palace of Justice of Kuwait ... set to be the largest judicial building in the Middle East.

Distinctive designs to dot the skyline

01 June 2019

Pace continues to leave its hallmark of design expertise around Kuwait as distinctive projects that originated on its drawing boards rise up on the country’s skyline. The leading multidisciplinary firm in the region for architecture, planning and engineering has been commissioned by the Amiri Diwan to redesign and supervise the rebuilding and expansion of the historic Palace of Justice of Kuwait, which has stood as a symbol of fairness and integrity for decades.

The project calls for a redesigned building to reflect the ongoing evolution and modernisation of the legal system in Kuwait.

Located in Kuwait City near the Arabian Gulf and accessible from three major roads and highways, the new Palace of Justice spans a 34,500-sq-m plot and offers a built-up area of 356,189 sq m.

The Assima development ... comprising a tower, mall and residences.

It is set to be the largest judicial building in the Middle East, hosting more than 141 courtrooms and around 100,000 sq m of offices over 26 floors, comprising three basement levels, 22 floors and one technical level. The design incorporates a conventional and automated car parking that provides 2,741 parking spaces.

Commenting on the project, a Pace spokesman says the design has been carefully considered to communicate solidity – the foundation for all new beginnings – with the ground structure supporting a cantilever mass that floats across the building in a linear limestone patterned façade. The monolith structure houses two fractions that are joined together to create a hollow void that resembles a golden glistening geode, under which sits a public plaza.

“The exterior design, with its solid plaza and floating cantilevered wings, symbolises the scales of justice. Between the two wings runs the distinctive golden geode, which forms the heart of the building. The plaza forms the entryway into the entire facility, with its open and transparent concourse representing the platform in which the voices of the people are heard,” the spokesman tells Gulf Construction.

The wings, which are for use as courtrooms and office space respectively, take inspiration and represent the ‘balance of justice’, he adds, and the golden geode in the centre of the building represents that justice has nothing to hide and shines bright on society when served.

“This vast void is the building’s jewel - an indoor space permeable only by light that casts a golden interior that overwhelms the plaza spaces, inspired by the traditional geometry of the Middle East,” he says.

Furthermore, a 20-floor atrium spanning between the geode segments interlaced with bridges creates an abundant sense of movement and circulation.

“Views from within overlook the outdoor courtyard where people can rest and enjoy the surrounding views of the sea and cityscape. As visitors continue their journey inside the building, soft strands of natural light permeate the golden mesh facade into the hallways,” the spokesman says.

Every feature within the building is considered to reflect and support its dual-functionality as a space for both citizens and the government. The external facade covers the facility’s offices.

The modern design of the Sabah Al Salem stadium’s facade with wheat leaves pattern.

In order to meet the needs of the lawyers, judges and other employees working there, the facades have been equipped with a glass frontage composed of different sized windows, based on the specific purposes of the rooms behind them, to provide ample natural light.

The external facade module was devised to provide optimal window sizes, with a graded depth from South and North, following a solar impact study. A modular bronze detail unifies the entire facade.

In terms of landscaping, the aim was to design something as unique and symbolic as the building itself, which is how the concept of ‘storming skies’ was created, says the spokesman.

“Storming skies blurs the line between pure landscaping and art, using hanging metal bars to create the illusion of a storm cloud. A visitor’s perception of these clouds would change relative to his/her position in the building,” he says.

He says conventional landscaping has also been used, with a date palm grove, plazas with flowering trees and a flower garden adding colour and beauty to the grounds.

“In creating a structure that is as beautiful as it is unyielding, as complex as it is transparent, as efficient as it is welcoming, Pace created a building that perfectly reflects Kuwait’s enduring commitment to justice,” he continues.

In contrast, he adds, the public areas are located at the core of the building and enclosed by the government offices, symbolising that justice itself protects the people.

The Pace spokesman says designing clear pathways became a core priority in the project, since research showed the building would serve exponentially more visitors than permanent employees, many of whom would be visiting for the first time.

Once inside, the design of the interior space guides visitors from a central common area to all other parts of the building, with clear vertical cores located in the middle that are easy to find. Sunlight cast through the geode forms a gentle golden glow, symbolising the light of justice shining over everyone.

The indoor spaces employ advanced IT/AV (audio-visual) and acoustic infrastructure as well as a clean and modern design, utilising the abundance of light to improve the wellbeing and productivity of its occupants.

ASSIMA TOWER

Another distinctive project designed by Pace is Assima, which aims to establish Kuwait City as a major entertainment destination.

Located in the heart of downtown Kuwait, the development will provide a high-end shopping, entertainment and leisure experience. Positioned along the main highway running east-west through the city, and bounded by the roadway leading from the south to the sea, the site is characterised by high street visibility and full prominent frontages located at the junction of key arteries into the city.

With a total leasable area of up to 70,000 sq m, the project include a 65-storey office tower, a hotel, an urban park and a retail podium complex with 176 units, entertainment/cinema and food facilities and a hypermarket, in addition to a parking facility with 2,384 parking spaces.

The tower offers 51,000 sq m of modern office space and rises above the five-level podium complex, which includes over 17,000 sq m of food and beverage (F&B) outlets and more than 2,400 sq m of entertainment space.

Also above the retail podium is the Marriott Executive Hotel and Apartments, which will provide high-end accommodation and spa facilities. The rooftop gardens on the seventh and eighth floors will provide a luxury health and spa experience together with access to the levels below.

Parking for the development is provided across three basement levels on adjacent plots as well as primary parking below the podium in basement levels two and three.

The podium’s concept is based on the creation of an urban arcade and a public passageway open at either end. The resulting path along continuous retail frontage, with a length of almost 300 m, is bent three times, creating a series of three vertical atria. Broad atrium glazing flows along this pedestrian route, with the path flowing and bending like a river of light. At each of the three bends is a vertical well of brightness – the largest positioned in the centre.

“These three atria create unobstructed visual connections, both vertically and horizontally, offering spaces for social focus for the retail area surrounded by the most visible frontages. The vertical circulation exists within rectangular openings in the more linear paths of the plan,” says the spokesman.

On the roof, an urban parkland is terraced from west to east, providing a destination linked by lifts to the food and beverage below. The health club level on the northeast corner will also gain access to a roof level via a dedicated lift, leading to an outdoor lap pool.

The central public atrium space will be the heart of the experience – an important new public space in the centre of Kuwait. It will lead to rooftop gardens on the sixth and seventh floors, a park landscape with food outlets, picnic areas and views of Kuwait Bay.

The landscaping is intended to tie together the experiences in the project; from arrival, through the atria onto the roofscape parkland, and climbing the stepping massing of the hotel.

SABAH AL SALEM STADIUM

Meanwhile, the Pace-designed Sabah Al Salem Stadium has just clinched an architecture award at the World Stadium Congress, its second global accolade.

The new Sabah Al Salem Stadium, home to the Al Arabi Sports Club, comes as part of an ambitious plan to almost double the stadium’s capacity to 30,000 (shaded) seats and expand the facilities of the club to increase its ability to embrace other sports.

Al Arabi Sports Club was founded in 1960 and was the first official sports club to be established in Kuwait. The Sabah Al Salem Stadium is located in the Al Mansouriyah district and is widely regarded as one of the country’s most iconic venues.

In 2017, with growing activity, profile and scope at Al Arabi Sports Club, the Public Authority for Sports (PAS) commissioned Pace to undertake the redesign and construction supervision of the stadium.

Project components also include a VIP area and corporate boxes and sports halls under the benches/bleachers.

Despite its limited plot size, the design of the multipurpose stadium is internationally standardised to still be Fifa-, UEFA-compliant, fully optimising the use of space. In order to secure a family-friendly environment, the project has been designed to be sensitive to surrounding areas.

The building above street level almost floats above the ground floor, clearly separating the activities taking place within it. The stadium is closed from all sides of the pitch.

The overall area of the landscape around the stadium building is approximately 19,000 sq m. Green areas for planting will be introduced to include trees and shrubs and low feature plants, with lighting. Specialist lighting for the landscape areas and the building façade will be carefully designed to enhance the landscape and the stadium building.

The modern design of the stadium’s facade incorporates a white continuous block unifying the wall and roof as one element. This element wraps around the tiers as tightly as possible and incorporates the symbol of the club. Wheat leaves on the logo were chosen as the symbol for the new era in the life of the Al Arabi Sports Club as they signify growth and prosperity. The pattern is more open at concourse level, as it is a more public area, hence allowing for light and ventilation into the bowl, while being more closed at the top (where the sports halls are) until it fades into the solid form of the curved roof.

The architectural design of the new Sabah Al Salem Stadium has won international awards. It has been awarded by the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) Middle East, in addition to winning the World Stadium Congress Award 2019 in the ‘Future Stadium Design of the Year’ category.

The congress is believed to be the only international institution specialised in evaluating and recognising stadium designs worldwide.