Residential N04, Msheireb Downtown Doha

As part of a prestigious team of UK architects who collaborated on the Msheireb Downtown Doha masterplan - establishing a new civic centre in the historical capital city Doha - Squire & Partners designed six buildings including The Galleria apartments on site N04. The development sits directly above The Galleria, the primary retail and dining destination for Downtown Doha.

The apartment building is expressed as a modern reinterpretation of traditional Qatari architecture with clean lines and simple forms embellished with patterned bronze screens, and facades animated with a variety of window openings across the elevations. A colonnaded base creates a shaded pedestrian route along the street, with setbacks repeated on the upper floors to offer covered outdoor terraces.

Msheireb Downtown Doha required the creation of a new vernacular rooted in Qatari culture, which the practice responded to by fusing traditional Qatari architecture with a modern and sustainable approach to design.Designs responded to the masterplan guide which took cues from historic proportions, simple forms, informal arrangement of buildings, active rooftops, the use of layering and ornamentation to modify light, and a strong emphasis on sustainability responding to the challenges of the local environment.