client/committente: Nour Holding, Beirut

period/periodo: 2012

project/progetto: MTA Associati

Located in Jnah, a district of Beirut in rapid transformation, the new shopping center occupies the corner between two roads: Mar Elias and Ahmad El Assad. Its exclusive position and the variable altitude of the terrain allow it to have different entrances at different levels. The main building appears like a monolith in which are carved out pathways which at strategic points of contact, create a large public square characterized by organic shapes and skylights lights. From level -1 to +4 level, the complex hosts commercial spaces and a multiplex cinema, located in the southernmost part of the lot. The car parks are located in part on level -2, partly on the roof, and are accessible from the highest point of Ahmad El Assad Street. The facades are made dynamic by the use of shaped metal panels which accommodate coloured fluorescent lights that draw lines not horizontal but parallel to the uneven ground.