Office P08, 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 office development on site P08.

The four storey stone building addresses an open pedestrianised space on Sikkat Wadi Msheireb, expressed as a solid rectilinear form with an irregular rhythm of slender vertical windows and perforated bronze panels inspired by the Al Jassasiya stone carvings found in the north of Qatar. A colonnaded base provides a shaded pedestrian route with animated uses overlooking the plaza.

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.