Diwan Amiri Quarter the First Phase of Msheireb Downtown Doha
Doha, Qatar
Allies and Morrison
2015
Msheireb Downtown Doha creates a dynamic, sustainable urban downtown core as a counterpoint to a car-dominated, sprawling city.
Msheireb’s first phase of public buildings has completed – the Diwan Amiri Quarter – with the remaining phases due for completion by 2022.
The Quarter comprises three stone-clad public buildings and a large sacred landscape, the national Eid Prayer Ground and a cooling tower enclosure.
The family of three buildings provides 150,000 sqm of accommodation. There is the Diwan Annexe, an administrative building for the Emir’s staff, the Amiri Guards barracks and the Qatar National Archive.
The three buildings are designed as a cluster of urban blocks related to the grain of the wider masterplan and adjacent to parts of the city.
Their shared northern façade takes the form of a grand colonnade, a civic frontage along Al Rayyan Road, a backdrop to the Diwan and Masjih al Sheikh, an important local mosque.
Although very different in function and form, the buildings all include modern interpretations of traditional features such as internal streets and courtyards, decorative shading screens and the use of simple render and locally sourced stone.
Directly south of the National Archive, the Eid Prayer Ground is a space for Eid prayers re-built on the site of an older prayer ground.
The ground occupies an important location across the Al Koot Fort, adjacent to the Jassmin Bin Mohammed House museum to the west, and overlooked by the watchtower form of the Archive.
A roughly rectilinear plot of 4,000 sqm, the ground brings together a space for prayer, a Qibla Wall, screening walls, sun screens, amenities such as public conveniences and drinking fountains, and enhancements such as public art.
The sculptural cooling tower enclosure houses a series of cooling towers, exhausting heart from a large underground district cooling plant, which serves the Msheireb Downtown neighborhood.
Its design is generated from local traditions of basket and matt weaving, arranged through a set of precast concrete ‘weave’ profiles into a ‘woven’ enclosure.
Project info:
Location: Doha, Qatar
Architect: Allies and Morrison
Project Name: Diwan Amiri Quarter
Client: Msheireb Properties
Program: Qatar National Archive, Diwan Annexe, Msheireb Prayer Ground
Photography: Gerry O’Leary, Fatma Al Sehlawi, Allies and Morrison.
About the Designer: Allies and Morrison
Allies and Morrison is an architecture and urban planning practice based in London, Cambridge and Dublin. Since our founding in 1984, that have developed a reputation for well-crafted buildings and thoughtful place making.
they have completed projects throughout the UK and overseas, and are currently working on projects in the Middle East and in North America.
The work of the practice ranges from architecture, interior design and conservation to planning, consultation and research.
