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Architects: Allies and Morrison
- Area: 43000 m²
- Year: 2016
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Photographs:Allies and Morrison
Text description provided by the architects. Allies and Morrison was commissioned to develop design proposals for the reconstruction of the historic Eid ground in Doha located on a prominent site across from the Al Koot Fort, immediately south of the new National Archive building and adjacent to the Jassim Bin Mohammed heritage house to the west.
The ground is a roughly rectilinear plot of approximately 4000sqm. Part of the Msheireb Downtown Doha Masterplan, the project was occasioned by the construction beneath the site of one of the developments central cooling plants. The new structure incorporates vents and escape stairs from the below ground infrastructure. The above ground construction includes not only the prayer ground itself, and the associated Qibla wall, but screening walls, sun screens and amenities such as public conveniences and drinking fountains.
Allies and Morrison’s design concept is based on the resolution of site geometries and the pure geometries and specific orientation of the sacred ground. The sacred space of the Eid ground is a perfectly level platform set slightly above the sloping ground plane, and a pure rectangle set within the irregular rectangle of the site. The interstitial spaces between the site boundary and prayer ground plan house the infrastructure requirements as well as the prayer ground amenities. Retractable shading devices will provide protection for the northern and southern parts of the Eid ground.
