Snøhetta just won a competition to design the headquarters of Banque Libano Francaise in Beirut—the design firm’s first-ever project in Lebanon. Crafted with a checkerboard facade, the proposed tower will rise as an icon of sustainability, not only with regards to the environment, but for social and economic factors as well. As a visual reminder of the building’s sustainable features, lush plants will blanket the outdoor terraces carved into the roof and walls.

 

Snøhetta’s proposal for the Banque Libano Francaise (BLF) in Beirut beat out a shortlist of 30 other designs. The new BLF headquarters will comprise both public and private spaces, with private offices located near the top of the building and public spaces created in the cut-away spaces at the building base. Transparency and connectivity with the community are also major design objectives and will be achieved with ample glazing and the building’s street level accessibility. The outdoor terraces also serve as “social hubs” around which the working spaces are organized.

 

A statement in the Snøhetta press release writes: “Achieving a development that is sustainable is paramount in responding to future user requirements. The parameters for sustainability will evolve with the user requirements and project specific criteria. The overriding factors will be ensuring: Economic Sustainability – the project must be fundamentally economically viable; Social Sustainability – the project must give back to the city and complement the existing urban context; and Environmental Sustainability – the project must respond to the environment both in regard to energy consumed and with regard the embodied energy of the structure.” (inhabitat)