Valerie

Khoury

Valerie

Khoury

Dar El Mouna

Batroun is a city known to attract the youth from all around Lebanon. It is characterized by its sea, clubs and restaurants. It is a city full of life but lacking the calm its inhabitants sometime look for. The youth living in Batroun have nowhere to go studying or have a quiet meeting or even more a place to go out for a drink with their friends while enjoying some calm.

I also found that the city also lacks a public library and exhibition spaces. In general, the city is in desperate need of a cultural center. Dar El Mouna was initially a hub for the arts. In terms of structure, the space is constituted of the main building which was originally a typical Lebanese house made up of a main hall housing arches typically found in such old architecture, serving as a separation of spaces. The location also includes a garage and a garden that surrounds the entire space until the main road.

In order to maximize the use of the space, I decided to refurbish the underground space for it to serve as a speakeasy. I left the arches on the 1st floor in order to maintain the authenticity of the space. I created a library that extends on a ramp that goes through the entirety of the space up until a mezzanine on which I created silent workspaces as well as a meeting room. In parallel I enlarged the garage space to become an additional building that will house on the ground floor a workspace/cafe, on the first floor a waiting area as well as the bathrooms, and on the third floor an open exhibition space.

The circulation throughout the center is meant to allow the visitor to go through all the spaces continuously while also giving them the option to exit the building at any point.

Black Box House