Engineers’ Retirement Trust building - 2nd prize
In 1970, an architectural competition was announced to design the Engineers’ Retirement Trust building, an office building to accommodate the Engineers’ Retirement Trust and the Engineers’ Association headquarters in Latakia. The plot designated for the Trust building sat at the intersection of two main roads in Latakia city in an important governmental and administrative area close to the seaside. The second place in the competition was awarded to Syrian Architect Mustafa AlSheikh.01
AlSheikh believed that architecture was about “organizing space rather than merely filling it”, a principle reflected in this design. Instead of following the borders of the site, his proposal featured two symmetrical, streamlined wings. The ground floor of his building stood as a transparent mass perforated by structural columns, receding from the heavy slab of the first floor that visually cuts it off from the rest of the building. The final two floors of the building also recede from the body of the building, and they were painted with a different color to further distinguish them from other floors, as they housed the Association Headquarters. Offices on all floors were positioned on the western and eastern facades, with the service core in the center. the main western and eastern facades were clad with hollow blocks. The unique roof of the building was made up of folded geometrical shapes and had the benefit of being lightweight and efficient at draining rainwater and providing shade.02
01 نوفل كسراوي، “رد على رسالة الزميل مصطفى الشيخ المفتوحة،” المهندس العربي، تموز 1970 [Nawfal Kisrawi, “An Answer to the Colleague Mustafa AlSheikh’s Open Letter,” The Arab Engineer, July 1970.]
02 مصطفى الشيخ، “رسالة مفتوحة إلى الزميل المهندس نوفل كسراوي،” المهندس العربي، أيار 1970 [Mustafa AlSheikh, “An Open Letter to the Colleague Nawfal Kisrawi,” The Arab Engineer, May 1970.]
03 كسراوي، “رد على رسالة الزميل مصطفى الشيخ المفتوحة.” [Kisrawi, “An Answer to the Colleague Mustafa AlSheikh’s Open Letter.”
The jury recognized the proposal’s success in achieving efficient interior arrangement and circulation, as well as providing a flexible solution in the receding floors designated for the Association Headquarters. They noted that this design was quite novel in Latakia, and highlighted the significant effort put into its visual presentation and detailing.
However, concerns were raised about the symmetrical design which ignored the properties of the site, which, according to the jury, made it incongruous with the surrounding urban area, with each of its sides possessing unique urban and climatic characteristics.
The jury additionally expressed concerns about the facade design potentially hindering sufficient natural lighting for the offices and obstructing views of the Mediterranean. Lastly, the canopy above the last receding floor was perceived as foreign to the rest of the building. 03
01 نوفل كسراوي، “رد على رسالة الزميل مصطفى الشيخ المفتوحة،” المهندس العربي، تموز 1970 [Nawfal Kisrawi, “An Answer to the Colleague Mustafa AlSheikh’s Open Letter,” The Arab Engineer, July 1970.]
02 مصطفى الشيخ، “رسالة مفتوحة إلى الزميل المهندس نوفل كسراوي،” المهندس العربي، أيار 1970 [Mustafa AlSheikh, “An Open Letter to the Colleague Nawfal Kisrawi,” The Arab Engineer, May 1970.]
03 كسراوي، “رد على رسالة الزميل مصطفى الشيخ المفتوحة.” [Kisrawi, “An Answer to the Colleague Mustafa AlSheikh’s Open Letter.”
