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World-class venue for performing arts takes its inspiration from the night sky
This project includes the development of four individual beach clubs, serving 40,000 residents, living in 27 towers stretched along a beachfront boardwalk of 1,500 m (5,300 linear feet) in length. The beach clubs populate one of two circular lagoons on this man-made island sited near the new downtown of Doha, Qatar.
The design of the beach clubs evolved from an almost mythological understanding of the place - its genius loci. Our reverence for the Sky, the Land and the Ocean generate powerfully symbolic connections to how and why we build. Using the simile of the lagoon as an enormous planetarium, star constellations became shape generators for each of the building designs; Pisces, Orion, Perseus and Andromeda.
In addition to the beach clubs, the land adjacent the lagoon’s harbour entrance, called Viva Bahriya, drew considerable attention for its development. We assisted our client to envision a world-class music hall venue as the primary building feature, with subordinate structures including a yacht club and marina, and exclusive arts community residences. The selected design for the 2,500-seat music hall emerged from numerous precedent images including a nest egg, called The Ellipse.
The diagonally criss-crossed structural bracing supports vision and translucent glass panels on the south and east sides, while the west is protected by an overlapping metal shell.
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