m i l i m e t d e s i g n – A r c h i t e c t u r e M a g a z i n e

Arabsat Headquarters Saudi Arabia

milimetdesign updated from www.contemporist.com

hparc_ars_14

All information and images courtesy of heneghan.peng.architects. Copyright by desMena

The design of the new headquarters for Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat) was the subject of an international competition commissioned by the Arriyadh Development Authority in 2008.

heneghan.peng.architects with Buro Happold engineers won the competition and were subsequently appointed in March 2009.

The building, which is located in the Diplomatic Quarters in Riyadh, respects the urban form of the precinct, whilst projecting the identity of a high profile and forward looking institution.

Arabsat is an organisation built on a vision of connecting the Arab community to itself and the world, “our world, your world”; This design gives the building a strong landmark presence by defining the corners of the site whilst curving inwards to create the entrance and private gardens within the site.

An interactive building is created that facilitates connections between different departments, between exterior and interior, so that in its physical expression, the building embodies the ethos of the Arabsat organisation. At the heart of the new headquarters for Arabsat is a unique spatial matrix, an interior garden – (its interior identity), designed to foster innovation through communication and exchange of ideas.

This continuous interior garden is shaped by the 3 exterior lattice walls which are reflected inside to shape this interior world. Bridges between different departments cross over at multiple levels, at times widening to become informal meeting spaces. The arrays of trajectories that organize these connections extend outwards to the outer perimeters of the site shaping the different gardens.

hparc_ars_10 CAPILLARY LIKE CONNECTIONS PROVIDE AN INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT