Bank of Kuwait & The Arab World

Beirut Central District - Beirut, Lebanon

http://www.mea707.lrehosting.com/solidere/bankofkuwaitandthearabworld.png


http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/5914/dscn1049dp6.jpg


Location: On the corner of Weygand Street and Foch Street
Status: Under Construction

Naregkar's pic:

(04/06/2006)

http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/2081/dscn08749sc.jpg

i like the building , its going to look realy nice when its restored

we have the basic idea what its going to look like i dont think there isnt going to be huge changes

^^ What do you mean? we have no idea whatsoever.

wait... isnt that old buidling going to be the new bank ! ?

^^ lol I had the same question Jayme, if that old building is going to be the new bank, then..... that's how it's going to look like, lol but renovated

No the bank is going to be built in the plot of land right next to that old building (see the crane), and besides, I dont think the old building's architecture suites a bank and I think the bank would prefer a more modern structure.

^^ ahh then what is the old building going to be again?? It looks like the city hall lol, very similar architecture

^^ good question...

i remember that i posted somewhere here in the lebanon forum a render to what this old building is going to be and i guess it was the bank of kuwait and the arab world.

The Bank of Kuwait & The Arab World headquarters is a completely new building. It has nothing to do with the old building on the right of that photo that is still awaiting restoration. It will be built right next to it.

It will however, look a bit similar to it. Here's a rendering:

http://www.mea707.lrehosting.com/solidere/bankofkuwaitandthearabworld.png

^^ Oh wow, this is the first time I see such a render...thanks LC.

I like how it fits in with its surroundings, but I wish it could have had a more unique look, especially since it is a new building.

Thanx LC :)

i don't really like it when they build completely new structures based on old designs...it's like ur building something new ..be creative and come up with something cool!

^^ I agree.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/2043/51ug4jig5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

^^ Is this an old picture from like over a year ago? I remember seeing the posters on the wall but now there is nothing... I wonder why they didnt leave it like this?

i don't really like it when they build completely new structures based on old designs...it's like ur building something new ..be creative and come up with something cool!

A lot of old looking buildings in the BCD are actually new builds.

Some of the old buildings that were really damaged during the civil war had to be demolished and rebuilt from scratch, and I believe this is one of them. This design is based off of the original building that once stood there.

^^ wow, well thats good news then... I wonder if a pic of the original building can be found floating around somewhere????

UPDATE: Nareg's close-up pic of the rendering added to introductory post.

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/130/beirut191rl7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/4116/beirut192yl9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

they seemed to have changed the stone color. if you look at post #17, the stone is nearly white, and MUCH lighter! the earlier lighter color is nicer :( . the "beige" is very comon now.all the buildings are beige.

^^ Nice observation, clearly it was an older render since the wall is now blue. I'm wondering if it was a lighter color stone or if the lighting of the picture just made it look like that. I prefer the color it is now since it matches the surroundings.

Here is a recent Daily Star pic of the Samir Kassir Square, and the corner of this building is visible. It appears they are still working on the second floor, or is it the third?


http://www.dailystar.com.lb//admin/storage/articles/200795229440.10-b.JPG


So this pic is taken from atop the Le Gray hotel?

It looks like it's currently on the 4th or 5th floor (pic from Flickr)

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/9594/beirut270ki2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

During the Beirut Marathon,November 18th , U can also see Beirut Souks i guess :S

Courtesy of Mercy and Canuche

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2073204049_97121c3deb_b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/rhmud/bank.jpg

TODAY, March 29, 2008

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/rhmud/capt_cps_mtk10_290308141104_photo00.jpg

courtesy of luciana luciana
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2033/251854973953195629e5och3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/1929/lucianajc4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk7/mohamadm/IMG_2306.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk7/mohamadm/IMG_2304.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk7/mohamadm/IMG_2320.jpg

Looks topped out..i counted 6 floors

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk7/mohamadm/kuwaitarabbank.jpg

August 19, 2008
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/5734/p1050763ql6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Courtesy of James
October 18th 2008
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/2955798080_efe4a6003d_b.jpg

Shouldnt this be almost done by now?

Courtesy of Stevo Keano
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk7/mohamadm/stevo_keano_bankuwait.jpg

http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo305/Nadini23/dd-2.jpg

July 30, 2009

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/3521/bk3j.jpg (http://img91.imageshack.us/i/bk3j.jpg/)


http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/1337/96074630.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/i/96074630.jpg/)


http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/3299/bk2rve.jpg (http://img200.imageshack.us/i/bk2rve.jpg/)

Whats up with the cladding? Looks like they are redoing it. Anyone notice the pics in post 30? It appeared almost done..now they are adding it back since April

^^ its not cladding that you see in post 30, look at the last picture top left of the building, its the concrete. In the other pictures it looks like its the cladding but it's really the sun hitting it giving it that color

Hmm ok..Strange the reder is so light it looks like it

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb215/daschma/Lebanon2009-08061.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb215/daschma/Lebanon2009-08076.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb215/daschma/Lebanon2009-08077.jpg

courtesy of story of our city
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu287/Nadini234/DSC_0114-1.jpg

courtesy of me:

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/7845/kuwait2.jpg

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/9789/kuwaitk.jpg

nice!

September 2009

Courtesy of me

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/3074/img6453edited.jpg

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/411/dsc00581tk.jpg

^^Thanks! Can you just tell us when was it taken?

^^ 3 days ago :)

looks the same

^^That's true, it didn't change much.

Were there workers on the site?

^^ No, I didn't see any worker.

I wonder if people are fining it difficult to get the cut stone cladding. With all of the construction, and the (admittdly spotty) attempt to control the quarries in the Lebanon range, there might be a shortage of some kind...

what if they are out of money and they dont have enough money to buy the rest of the tiles

...... if they can't buy the tiles, then there is no way they have enough for the interior ... I hope that's not the case

anyways i doubt it... but whatever building which starts in solidere has a deadline. They cant stop a project in the middle of it like they do in Zalka or something..

Most probably they are building the materials so they can continue it...

Bank of Kuwait & The Arab World

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/5914/dscn1049dp6.jpg



I sorta like the building.. Like it fits in well enough with the surroundings...

But whats up with the wooden thingies at the top of the building..

It looks like a gulfie architectural element mixed in with a generally lebanesey building design!

^^ Not sure about that part, but the building was designed to look just like the one that used to stand there before it was destroyed during the war.

courtesy of john tanner
http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af121/Nadini2345/bankofkujohn.jpg

http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/af121/Nadini2345/bankofjohn.jpg

Courtesy of me:

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5358/dsc08705c.jpg

Taken Jan 09

Finally!!!! It's looking great!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2753/4262568086_188c719499_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4262567782_05c06fec71_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2737/4261814665_2619414c4b_o.jpg

woooooow it's looking great indeed ... is it completed ??

^^ It dosent look completely ready yet because it looks like there still working on the entrance of the building in one of the pictures, but its looking great :cheers:

Wow love the details..looks liek a modern but still traditional..its like a fade..If you go one way it transition u to the modern (le gray) or the other way (municipality) to traditional.

If you look at the building on the other side of the Municipality it is the same color..making the Beirut Municipality stand out in the middle

Taken April 10

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2724/4514803517_74315b919d_o.jpg

Wasn't it already finished? why are the bars up again, and the plastic on the balcony things?! :S
Yay i visited the past D:

Probably final details to be done.

This is not the first building i have seen that this happened .... maybe they put on the bars again after finishing for some specific reason ...

courtesy of tamar
http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad345/Nadini1/tamar.jpg

courtesy of flickrexp
http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad345/Nadini1/flcikr.jpg

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/440/img7822h.jpg (http://img28.imageshack.us/i/img7822h.jpg/)

DO NOT USE WITHOUT AN EXPLICIT PERMISSION

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5098/5468328252_9764ab134e_b.jpg
Courtesy of Antonio Khattar Photography

By aymanitani

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5218/5476367982_59df67933e_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/aymanitani/5476367982/)