Tabaris Tower
Located in the centre of Beirut, in an area rich in history and ideally situated for transport connections, the site for Tabaris tower is a tight L-shaped plot, bordered on one side by the expressway and the downtown skyscrapers, and on the other side by the church and the houses of Achrafieh. The challenge of this project was to integrate a dense and ambitious program within the complexity of the site: a steep and narrow parcel, with access routes from both sides of the plot at different levels, and an urban context with two scales, and two sets of demands at its two faces.
In response, the proposal is a tower that expresses this ‘specificity’ through its unique form and materiality. The base of the building is designed at the scale of the surrounding city fabric, and contains urban programs such as shops and offices. Responding to the newer scale of high rise, the fin-like housing tower climbs above. With its slim profile almost vanishing amongst the surrounding edifices, its composition of solids and voids characterizes the two faces it presents to the city. While the smooth and translucent language of the reception area fronts onto the city-center and the sea, a more complex tectonic, oriented toward the neighborhood of Achrafieh, is drawn by the contours of private spaces. The luxury apartments offer 360 ° views over the diverse urban landscapes offered by the capital.
