Engineers’ Retirement Trust building
In 1970, an architectural competition was announced to design the Engineers’ Retirement Trust building,01 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 first prize was awarded to Syrian Architects Hisham Nabsh, Ahmad Maasarani, and Adnan Tabbe for their proposal which was constructed in 1976.02
The building has a simple “L” that creates an interior square used as a rear garden. It is finished off with a thick, prominent roof slab atop the receding final floor. Because the site borders streets on three sides (two main streets to the west and south and a minor street to the east), both the ground and final floors have deep recesses from these three sides, while the north facade is level with neighboring buildings.
The building features retail shops all along the ground floor facades, with storage spaces in the back overlooking the rear garden. The upper floors contain 100 offices, a 300-square-meter restaurant, and the retirement cabinet on the third floor.03 The final floor serves as the headquarters for the Syrian Engineers’ Association’s branch in Latakia.
The building’s interior layout is directly reflected on the facades through a simple square grid of openings, equipped with vertical sunshades to shield against direct sunlight from the west in midday, the building’s primary operational period.
The jury commended the addition of a rear garden that created a calm urban space, which could contribute to increasing the investment value of the ground floor’s storage spaces. The interior arrangement of the plans was uncomplicated, ensuring sufficient ventilation and illumination. Furthermore, this proposal succeeded in expressing the building’s internal functions on the facades in a simple and subtle manner according to the jury. It was also noted that the structural framework was linked with the functional framework of the building and with the external expression of the facades, which led to the construction process being straightforward and economical.04
01 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.]
02 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.]
03 لمى يوسف، “د.جعفر الخير: تخصيص مقسم لنقابة مهندسي اللاذقية،” Esyria، تموز 30، 2008. [Lama Youssef, “Dr. Jaafar AlKheir: Allocation of A Building to the Engineers Association of Latakia,” Esyria, July 30, 2008.] LINK
04 كسراوي، “رد على رسالة الزميل مصطفى الشيخ المفتوحة.” [Kisrawi, “An Answer to the Colleague Mustafa AlSheikh’s Open Letter.”
In 2008, the building underwent a rehabilitation project which included restoring and refurbishing the entrance of the building, adding extra rooms for the association committees, and remodeling the interior spaces of the offices. However, this rehabilitation also included major encroachments upon the original design, including covering the entire building’s facades with dark blue glass with Alucobond panel intervals; resulting in the complete erasure of the designers’ vision.
01 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.]
02 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.]
03 لمى يوسف، “د.جعفر الخير: تخصيص مقسم لنقابة مهندسي اللاذقية،” Esyria، تموز 30، 2008. [Lama Youssef, “Dr. Jaafar AlKheir: Allocation of A Building to the Engineers Association of Latakia,” Esyria, July 30, 2008.] LINK
04 كسراوي، “رد على رسالة الزميل مصطفى الشيخ المفتوحة.” [Kisrawi, “An Answer to the Colleague Mustafa AlSheikh’s Open Letter.”
