A master plan for the city of Beirut is guiding the rehabilitation of the coastal city, and Herzog & de Meuron just unveiled an open and airy apartment development located in the central district. Beirut Terraces, seen over at Dezeen, is a composed of a series of terraces with various sized apartments and large open outdoor living areas. The apartment complex is rich with lush vegetation at the ground floor entrance and features hanging gardens integrated throughout the building. Solar passive design, daylighting and energy efficiency also play a strong roll in the design of the apartments.
Appearing a bit like a Jenga tower, Beirut Terraces is made up of various shaped slabs overlapping each other to create overhangs and shaded terraces. The outside windows of the building are actually recessed back from the edge by 6 meters, providing lots of outdoor living space for the occupants in order to enjoy the moderate climate. The overhangs and recessed living spaces also help improve the energy efficiency of the building, protecting the living areas from direct solar gain, but working to heat the thermal mass, which releases the heat later in the day.
Despite the large overhangs, the apartments all have ample access to natural daylighting and ventilation, which aid in the energy efficiency of the building. A large garden and vegetated space serve as the entrance to the apartment building, while hanging gardens are installed throughout offering the occupants another connection with the natural world. (Coincidentally, the design for the Beirut Terraces is a bit reminiscent of Herzog & de Meuron’s design for the Miami Art Museum.) Located in the central district, the apartment, which includes 129 single, duplex and townhouse apartments, is close to many other offices and attractions and also includes amenities like a spa and shopping on the ground floor level.
Via Dezeen
**CORRECTION**
Coincidentally, the design for the Beirut Terraces is a bit reminiscent of SITE’s design for a Private Residence Tower
in Mumbai, India (2004)
http://siteenvirodesign.com/projects/ant/ant01.htm
[...] apartments. The stepped design of the upper floors creates niches where rooftop gardens and terraces can be placed. At the base, units are separated to create open squares that intermingle with the [...]
[...] home in the tower. Additionally, if need be, the tower was designed to easily be transformed into a residential complex with little structural changes, and the voids can readily be turned into private [...]
[...] Terraces are created by curving back each level in an organic fashion to create patios and decks for shoppers, a cafe, and residential patios on the top levels. The organic mesh wraps the edges of each level, softening and greening the appearance of the building, which changes with the seasons. A three-story atrium in the top floors pulls natural daylight in from the roof down through the levels of apartments. Construction on the mixed-use development is expected to start in 2011 now that they have approval from the city of Ljubljana. [...]
A beautiful building,but i think it maybe a waste of construction.I dont think patio has more value than indoor space.