plateau | damour beach club

Damour, Lebanon

Beach resort for the members of the Order of Architects & Engineers

Area: 8000 sqm

Status: co-winner

The proposal builds on two main criteria. The first is the identity of the client. The second is the historic fabric of the site.

The agriculture plain of Damour, set on the border of the city of Municipal Beirut, is the embodiment of a sea front and suburb in mutation. The banana fields are slowly disappearing and instead gated high-end resort like beaches are being developed. With the rise of the sea level the public zone is sunk allowing a complete privatization of the sea front. A higher allowable built up area in this zone is also changing the biodiversity of the area.

The order of engineer and architects, an institution that is responsible for the evolution of the built form is invited to challenge the status quo of privatizing the access both physical and visual to the sea while maintaining the provision of a service to its members.

in collaboration with Sandra Richani and Carla Aramouny