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Architects: heneghan peng architects
- Area: 3500 m²
- Year: 2017
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Photographs:Iwan Baan
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Manufacturers: Creative Ad Design, D-Line, Manjorco, Nassar Stone, Okalux
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Quantity Surveying: AECOM, Davis Langdon
Text description provided by the architects. The mission of the Palestinian Museum is to be the leading, most credible and robust platform for shaping and communicating knowledge about Palestinian history, society and culture.
To deliver on this mission, the client’s intention has been to develop a Palestinian Museum hub located 25km north of Jerusalem (West Bank), and in two phases of building construction.
Phase 1 (completed 2016) consists of a built area of 3,500SQM. It includes a climate-controlled gallery space, an amphitheatre, a cafeteria with outdoor seating, a library, classrooms, storage, a gift shop and administrative spaces; all set within 4 hectares of planned gardens. During Phase 2; the Museum will expand to a total of 10,000SQM.
The cascade of terraces tells a diversity of stories; citrus brought in through trade routes, native aromatic herbs, a rich and varied landscape with connections east and west.
The building itself emerges from the landscape to create a strong pro le for the hilltop both integrated into the landscape yet creating an assertive form that has a distinctive identity.
Largely single-storey; it stretches out along the hilltop from the south to north; overlooking the gardens to the west.
The ground floor, comprising entrance reception, museum administration, galleries, screening room and cafe opens out directly to the gardens at its northern end, while overlooking a stone amphitheatre below it at the southern end.
In the lower ground oor there is a public Education and Research Centre with classrooms, workshops and administrative spaces. The education centre opens out to a cut stone amphiteatre to the west.
In addition to the Education and Research Centre, the main art collections spaces, photographic archives, and art handling are all located in the lower ground oor. These spaces are not accessible to the public; they open out to a secure delivery yard at the eastern side of the building.
The building will be the first LEED Certified building in Palestine.
