Residential S03, 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 this highly sustainable LEED Platinum residential development on site S03.

The six storey development addresses Al Khail Street and forms part of a series of buildings with distinctive overhanging canopies. Expressed as a grouped trio of rectangular forms beneath this unifying canopy, the design features a cut-out corner animated by a series of projecting balconies with patterned Mashrabiya screens. The stone canopy covers a series of small rooftop volumes with pocket courtyards, inspired by traditional Ali Akbar Ahmed housing.

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.