KFAS New Headquarters
New buildings of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences – KFAS, Wettbewerbsbeitrag. 2018
VERFAHREN
Offener zweistufiger Wettbewerb, 2018
Auslober: Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences – KFAS
TEAM
Fawad Kazi Architekt GmbH:
Fawad Kazi, Nicole Schönfelder, Styliani Azariadi
AUFGABENSTELLUNG
For more than 40 years, KFAS has played a catalytic role in advancing and promoting science, technology and innovation (STI) throughout Kuwait, as part of its efforts to drive the establishment of a knowledge-based economy and long-term sustainability. Through its initiatives and programs, along with its strategic national and international partnerships, the Foundation has continued to foster excellence by enhancing the STI competencies and capabilities of the country and its population. … due to the expansion of the Foundation’s programs and initiatives, and the subsequent increase for the increase in staff, as well as the growth in real estate projects in the surrounding areas, the Foundation has long outgrown the maximum capacity of its current headquarters. Hence, for its long-term expansion, and to address its master program of growth and development, KFAS has been allocated two new sites from the Kuwait Municipality, to house a new Headquarters and Conference Center. These newly developed buildings shall reflect and portray KFAS’s role as the leader in the advancement of STI within Kuwait’s society and embody the characteristics of invention, creation and knowledge. (KFAS Competition Brief, Summary A (excerpt), 2018)
FOTOS, VISUALISIERUNGEN
Fawad Kazi Architekt GmbH
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
The design concept for the KFAS New Headquarters competition is conceived of the following highly recognizable architectural elements:
– The KFAS Headquarters (HQ)
– The KFAS Conference Center (CC)
– The Roundabout Bridge (Study Area C)
– The 3rd optional Building (Study Area D)
The two buildings (HQ and CC) form a pair of buildings, strongly bound together through their shape and height. Additionally, the Building D would extend this pair of buildings to a typological and functional family trio, marking the site of Salmiya with these three visible beacons. All three buildings are representative signs of the KFAS, creating unique landmarks within the existing skyline. Each building will have, due to its design, a strong impact on the existing context and will also transform the area of Salmiya into a science campus. The new Roundabout Bridge connects the KFAS New Headquarters with the KFAS Conference Center and the city center. This additional structure provides a new pedestrian pathway minimizing the crossings of the existing streets. Furthermore, it serves as an extension to the Marina walk starting from the Scientific Center of Kuwait and leading the visitor through the KFAS New Headquarters to the KFAS Conference Center, offering at the same time nice views to the harbor and the surrounding area.
BUILDING STRUCTURE
The two proposed building structures of KFAS are conceived with the use of state of the art technology incorporating the optimized use of the following materials:
– Reinforced & precast concrete for the floors, the pillars, the shafts and the vertical ribs of the facades
– Steel (used additionally when required)
– Glass & aluminium for the facades
The structural layout of both buildings is merely made out of reinforced concrete, partially also precast concrete. By the implementation of modular elements such as ribbed and coffered ceilings, the layouts of each floor can be easily changed at any time. The building’s horizontal bracing is provided by the massive spine including the staircases and the elevator shafts.
SUSTAINABILITY
The Sustainability Concept for the KFAS New Headquarters and the KFAS Conference Center is based on the same disciplines and ideas, as both buildings belong typologically and morphologically to the same family. The following rules would apply also to the suggested future building to be built on the plot of the Project Area D.
Vertical Gardens
Both buildings contain vertical gardens that provide natural ventilation, pleasant green sceneries and establishing a maximum of working comfort for employees and visitors.
Water Usage
The rainwater and surface water will be recycled and reused within the building’s Vertical Gardens and also used in the water supply for the toilets, in the irrigation systems and in other non-drinking water systems.
Sun Protection
The façade’s deep profile provides natural shadow all over the building volume and hereby minimizes heat gain. The aim is a balance between summer shading and winter sunshine.
The outdoor plazas are covered with sun sheds to maximize the public comfort. Furthermore, trees offer partly additional shadows to the public. Solar panels on parts of the façade function as shading elements and at the same time cover part of the energy needs reinforcing the sustainable character of the buildings.
Natural Ventilation
The Vertical Gardens provide on each floor a green scenery, including natural ventilation in combination with waterfalls all over the building height. Automated window openings for the public- use areas and user-controlled window openings for the offices and the rest of the private and restricted-use areas allow for better security control and help regulating the building’s inside climate in accordance to Kuwait’s climate conditions. The vertical structure of both buildings generates a chimney effect for the natural movement of warm air with minimal mechanical effort at the top of the building from where it is being extracted in the atmosphere.
