ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN

Beirut City Center

Key principles

Climate responsive design – Energy concept – CFD/Energy simulations – Outdoor comfort

Info

Year: 2018
Country: Beirut
Consultants for: Bernard Mallat Architects, Walid Zeidan Architects
Client: Majid Al Futtaim

We collaborated with the architects designing the F&B areas of the City Center Beirut Mall. We applied our knowledge to support the architects’ quest to bring a dweller centered design of the outdoor spaces.

Our environmental design strategy focuses on bringing both yearlong comfort to users frequenting these spaces as well as an efficient use of energy through passive and active systems and on-site renewable resources.

Wind flow optimization and capture was an essential element to shift perceptible thermal comfort balance in both winter and summer. Modern wind catchers were simulated and designed through iterating an analytic CFD evolutionary engine that optimizes natural air speed flow during summer time.

Building skins and shading typologies were studied in relation to the dwellers’ schedule, activity and circulation, bringing thermal comfort and energy savings throughout the year.

Materials insulation, albedo, emissivity, and structural typologies that best respond to the climate we want to regulate in relation to the conceptual design were then adapted.