BEIRUT DIGITAL DISTRICT

Beirut Digital District (BDD) is an all-inclusive urban development and a hub for the digital and creative industry in Lebanon, designed to host innovative startups in addition to small & medium enterprises.

The project site is bordered by the central district to the north, and the “green line”—which split the city into East and West during Lebanon’s civil war—to its east. The presence of historical buildings on site constituted an added value to the development, acting as a celebration of its glorious and rich architectural heritage.

Used as focal points around which the masterplan was developed, virtual lines are projected from their façade, defining open areas and generating public spaces while creating attraction points. The remaining areas of the site were filled with masses following the existing city fabric.

Verticality as an urban form was employed to maximize the open areas in a city that lacks them, generating a sustainable and a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood while fulfilling the feasibility of the development. By reaching out to the sky, it also reflects the BDD’s rising ambitions. The “slab and glass” transparency of the towers is intended to blur the line that historically divided the city.

Public space expands on the tops of the buildings, doubling the green areas: the roof gardens offer additional gathering spaces that are semipublic, while offering sight lines of the development and views of the city, the Mediterranean and the mountains.