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Architects: BRICKLAB
- Area: 7300 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Laurian Ghinitoiu
Text description provided by the architects. Set on a 12,300 m2 plot along the eastern periphery of Ad Diriyah's former industrial quarter, the new Ministry of Culture Office complex is only a few meters away from the Diriyah Biennale Foundation and the upcoming JAX creative district. Its strategic site is perched on an elevated plateau overlooking a tributary extending from Wadi Hanifa.
In response to the unique juxtaposition between the natural topography of the wadi and the manufactured materiality of the industrial buildings, Bricklab developed a conceptual framework around the duality between nature and culture. Their approach for the design of the 7,300 m2 facility is informed by the various ecosystems that characterize Wadi Hanifa on the one hand and the familiar warehouse typology on the other. An array of narrow-pitched roofs are strung together to form an iconic silhouette that assumes a distorted continuity of the industrial district as visitors approach the offices from the street.
A simple material palette of corrugated steel sheets and an earthy tone of stucco are set against a 6,000 m2 public park designed by the Beirut/Dubai/London-based studiolibani. Through their research on sustainable landscape practices in arid regions, their approach recreates a series of environments that mirror the changes in Wadi Hanifa as it pours from the Tuwaiq mountains in the north down to the Empty Quarter southwards.
This formal approach, along with its landscape principles, is carried through in the interior of the offices. Undulating walls in a deep burnt beige simulate the passage of water along Wadi Hanifa to create the building's main circulation spine. Office quarters are organized around three large planters along the spine to echo the micro-environments of the wadi. A small grove of palms is connected to a rainwater collection channel that extends across the park and down to the wadi to further highlight the narrative of the natural landscape.
The cavernous exposed ceilings of the building's interior spaces recall the mechanisms of an industrial facility. To temper this rigid impression, a soft palette of beige, brown, and white are employed across the 10 office quarters that comprise the complex. Furthermore, the open office areas are oriented towards the large windows facing the wadi to ensure users are in direct contact with the natural environment.
