Le Passage de Hoyek

Mina el Hosn: LOT 1338
Beirut Central District (BCD) - Beirut, Lebanon


Architect: Bernard Khoury

Type: Mixed Development

Status: Under Design


http://www.bernardkhoury.com/ProjectBigPictures/193_MINA-01.jpg

http://www.bernardkhoury.com/ProjectBigPictures/193_MINA-02.jpg

http://www.bernardkhoury.com/ProjectBigPictures/193_MINA-03.jpg

http://www.bernardkhoury.com/ProjectBigPictures/193_MINA%2004.jpg

what are unique Buliding its nice
whats with the tree's ! and the one on the side/roof of the bulding
it looks as if it was small in the outside but huge in the inside
i like the inside more

Its really nice without the trees... I wonder if there will be anything underground?

Roof looks very interesting.

so is it like a shoping centre? is it under construction?

Does anyone know the status of this project?

i got those of his website:


Mina 1338 Beirut Central District, Lebanon DESCRIPTION IMAGES

Mixed Use Development

In Progress 2006

Total Area: 21400m2


Mina 1338 is located on an 3740 square meters island plot in the newly rebuilt Beirut Central District, near the new “Souks of Beirut currently under-construction. Downtown Beirut, and especially the Souks‘ surroundings, is notable for its important pedestrian activity. The program combines commercial space, entertainment activities and a 100 room luxury hotel with a total built up area of 21 400 square meters in addition to the complementary basement parking levels.

In opposition with the highly regulated building envelopes that distinguish the B.C.D master plan materialized by strict alignments of stone clad low rise buildings, our project presents itself as a crystalline organic mass, an urban event that does not comply with the body alignments of its surrounding streets.

The commercial base of the project aligns with the plot perimeter and acts as a pedestal to the body of the building above. Pedestrian entrances are placed in the continuity to the existing pedestrian flow connecting to the multiple levels of the surrounding streets in all orientations and leading to a central internal piazza. The piazza is a circular void (32m in diameter, 30m in height), open to skylight.

Above the commercial base, the “sky lobby” is a 9 meters high internal garden with a peripheral terrace. The proposed suspended garden is conceived to be an exceptional entertainment destination where leisure activities intersect to create a programmatic synergy; it is where the hotel reception, restaurants, cafes, terraces and bars are located.

The hotel is placed above the sky lobby, it is built on a succession of floor plates that recess in the higher floors, mutating in plan from a circular base to become an ovoid. The vertical glass louvers / sun breakers, placed at varying distance, creating a pattern across the hotel’s 5 levels in an arrangement that blurs the reading of the consecutive floors and renders it as one.On the roof, we propose a panoramic terrace with an open air restaurant, a bar, with a sundeck and cantilevered infinity pool enjoying 360 degrees views over the Mediterranean Sea and Mount Lebanon in the background.

and thats another render not posted yet:

http://www.bernardkhoury.com/ProjectBigPictures/193_MINA%2002.jpg

On page 47 of the 2005 Solidere annual report, they show a different project for this plot, though with the same objective of creating another pole of activity for the souks (shops, games arcade, boutique hotel). Architects are the Jerde Partnership. Can't show the renderings because I'm incompetent (!), but they're interesting. If anyone can, they can be found under the "Real Estate Development" heading under the link to the 2005 annual report on Solidere's site.
I remember trying to find the project on the Jerde Parnetrship's site, but there was nothing there. Maybe Bernard Khoury was commissioned in their stead. But I'd imagine that, unless Solidere wants to have something built by Bernard Khoury (given the probable demise of the Dome), the Jerde design would be favored - it follows Solidere's streetwall controls, which BK's project rebels against...

There is a Lebanese architectur magazine or Lebanese real estate magazine that is published and I have seen in lebanon only. I think it is available at cinzzeo. That might have some news.

i realllllllyyy hope this gets approved! it's by far my favorite project in downtown Beirut!

According to BK's website, this project is now "On Hold 2006" as opposed to "In Progress 2006".

???

Its listed in the 2006 Solidere annual...I hope if it is on hold it is just temporary

^^ Well according to post #14, the project has an alternative rendering. Can anyone post that here?

^^ Well according to post #14, the project has an alternative rendering. Can anyone post that here?

Beirut!, I tried, but couldn't copy the images (the acrobat file is protected, I believe). This is the link to the 2005 annual report chapter where the project was first described, with the renderings on page 4 of 4:

http://www.solidere.com/solidere/pdf/realestate05.pdf

But as AmeriLeb wrote, it is mentioned as Khoury's project in the 2006 annual report. Jerde is there given credit for the overall concept, but BKhoury is given credit for the design, suggesting that Jerde's initial renderings as laid out in the 2005 report have given way to BKhoury's.

^^ Thanks, here's the info:


http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/rhmud/1-3.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/rhmud/2-2.jpg

^^I like khoury's more , SO UNIQUE and We kinda need that design 'Dome like' in Beirut.

^^ Well, according to the latest Solidere Quarterly Report (Q407), this project is again under design by Bernard Khoury!

"The file was sent to DGU for approval prior to submission to Beirut Municipality for permit building."

actually i think you misinterpreted- Its under design not redesign...they constantly update drawings and designs based on issues they encounter or for city requirments for approvals. After they get the design ok'd by the DGU ..they will issue a permit..

^^ Then what about the renderings I posted on July 18 07?

It was by a different architect that designed those, yet now Solidere is saying again that Bernard Khoury is the architect...

Maybe it was a design competition...and Khoury won.

^^ I dont think Solidere would publish renderings if they were just entries in a competition (at least without mentioning they are only entries).

I guess we will just have to wait and see if Koury updates his website.

none of these things look like beirut! this building could be anywhere in the world...

why do beirut architects not build beirut architecture anymore? we are ruining our architectural patrimony...

^^ it's nice to have modern next to historical..........

Khoury's round "bubble" won and this is from the 2007 report:

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/lepassage.gif

^^ That's Cool !!!!
but they didn't mention when they r going to start construction???

It says its waiting approval from the dgu

^^ What's that?

Its Department generale Urban ( french spelling?) I believe

none of these things look like beirut! this building could be anywhere in the world...

why do beirut architects not build beirut architecture anymore? we are ruining our architectural patrimony...

does the centre georges pompidou in ring a bell?
When it was built, most of the people were against it, but now it is considered one of the must-see buildings when u visit Paris.

See post 26 ..its in the approval process

how long should it take?

is anything certain yet? has a particular design been confirmed? Bernard khouries design is really really good! i hope they commision him.

^I think Khoury's design has been chosen if I'm not mistaken

The images on page 4 of the Projects section of the last Solidere annual report show what seems to be the current plan for the project. They did mention putting the project up to a design competition after showing us BKhoury's design, so no surprise.

I can see where it fits the context better in a limited sense (street walls, massing), but compared to BKhoury's funky and refreshingly different egg/dome/ovoid, I find it a real letdown...

http://www.solidere.com/solidere/pdf/2010/projects.pdf

page 4

It says "under study" in the caption, so maybe it will be refined or brightened up a bit... But then again, it does seem to go back to the original Jerde recommendation, so probably won't change much....