nARCHITECTS: ABC Dbayeh

New York-based architecture studio nARCHITECTS have completed the renovation of the ABC Dbayeh department store, in Beirut, Lebanon. The renovation and expansion of the retail surface has included the addition of four new aluminium and concrete volumes, which provide varied interior spaces in a 41,000 square metre department store.

For the building's exterior cladding, the architects drew inspiration from haute couture and the brand's logo, devising a dress-like pattern that envelopes the building's four volumes. The silvery façade is an LED backlit laser-cut aluminium screen, with apertures varying in size from less than 2 to 40 centimetres. In addition to creating a luminous icon at night, the new façade reduces solar heat gain from western exposure. Waste from nearly three thousand aluminium cut-outs have been reused as façade elements throughout the remaining three volumes, which alternate in tone between light and dark grey, and meeting the project's budget.

The new volume's features include a new space for dramatic art installations, four new glazed entrances with theatre-like displays and a panoramic window. "Diners on the new roof level restaurants will be treated to a back-stage view behind the perforated screen, with framed views out onto the Mediterranean Sea," state nARCHITECTS.

"We sought to create a dramatic and yet cohesive ensemble, which visitors and passersby can experience differently depending on the time of day or night," states nARCHITECTS principal Eric Bunge. "We aimed to create a moment of simplicity along the increasingly animated Dbayeh highway. We wanted the building to stand out in a sea of noise with a moment of silence."

nARCHITECTS: ABC Dbayeh shopping centre
Architects: nARCHITECTS
Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Program: Massing, new façades, displays, entrances, canopies
Building Area: 41,000 square metres (23,000 square metres addition + new façade for existing 18,000 square metres building)
Client: ABC S.A.L.
Design Team: Eric Bunge, Mimi Hoang (Principals); Tiago Barros, Stephen Hagmann, Hubert Pelletier (Project Architects); Seung Teak Lee, Julia Chapman, Christopher Grabow, Ammr Vandal (Design Team); Competition Phase: Alice Wong (Project Designer), Dominique Gonfard, Adam Vana
Architect of Record: ABC Technical Team: Lamia Jallad, Bascir Muhanna, Johnny Salman
Structural Engineer: BRM, Beirut
Interiors: A-Consult
Landscape: ZMK
Lighting Designer: DEBBAS, Beirut