The new British Embassy building in Algiers, designed by John McAslan + Partners, has created an elegantly composed focal point for cultural, political and commercial contact between Britain and Algeria.
The building conveys a fusion of cultural influences in a city that was the 2007 Arab Capital of Culture. Its form and layout are certainly modernist; but key details express facets of Algerian and Islamic precedents in a vividly contemporary way.
Sited in the gardens of the 19th century Ambassador’s Residence, the design was predicated on the key sightline from the Residence to the Bay of Algiers, and on two other key issues: first, a standoff perimeter zone, and second, the creation of an even more attractive landscape arrangement than had previously existed. The building incorporates an innovative 6m high twisted fins – inspired by the details found in Algerian palaces – which provide shading to the glazing that faces the Residence. The slats, made of FSC-certified Brazilian secondary species hardwood, were steam-twisted by timber expert Michael Berringer; and this twisting was designed not only to reduce solar gain on the façades, but to create beautifully brindled shadow patterns.
The outer façade is animated by glazed slots in the stonework screen that project dramatic and constantly changing patterns of shadow and light on the fair-faced concrete inner facades, creating a cool, calm, crisply detailed volume. It is the first time that this type of concrete has been used in Algeria and involved extremely skilled, ‘hands-on’ techniques by contractors Mace and Bouygues, as well as regular site inspections by Project Architect Simon Goode and assistant May Tang. The end walls of the building are clad with timber slats, selected from species which require little maintenance.
The successful delivery of a building of cultural representation and inclusion depends, ultimately, on how well it is built and how closely it matches the vision of its client and architects, thus a key challenge was to ensure that architectural quality and detail was properly expressed 1,029 miles away from the UK.
From the garden, the massing of the three-storey building appears to be reduced because the ground floor is partly sunk into the topography. The ground and first level floorplates step back in plan, delivering a building of 1,800m² gross internal area on a tight footprint. JMP’s in-house landscape team re-worked the setting with a series of curving, parallel walls that redefine the landscape and preview the arced internal spaces of the new building.
Finely crafted detailing is just as evident inside the building, particularly in the circulation areas where the design of the wooden stair-treads, balustrades, and wall and ceiling details have given them a purity of line and finish worthy of the Bauhaus; and they, too, are illuminated by lines and bars of light falling from rooflights.
The exposed concrete structure provides thermal mass to reduce peak-period cooling demands, and higher than usual floor-to-ceiling heights allows hot air to stratify, which meant a low-energy under-floor air conditioning system could be used. A green roof covers the building’s ground floor extension, and roof-mounted solar panels reduce energy requirements for the heating of water.
One of the legacies of the troubled recent history of Algeria has been the flight of professional and manually skilled people. The construction team employed local labour when possible and provided training as required. Bouygue’s French and Moroccan team worked closely with JMP and the local workforce to achieve a quality that all could be proud of.
The project included: the main Embassy building, entry and exit gate houses, the refurbishment of the Ambassador’s Residence building, and the re-landscaping of the gardens and site.
British Embassy Algiers Landscape
The new British Embassy in Algiers reflects the cultures of both Britain and Algeria. The 1,770sqm three-level building is set out on the axis of the retained Edwardian Ambassador's Residence, which is on a historic site near the city centre. The Embassy sits below the Moorish-style Ambassador’s residence and has been skillfully integrated in a garden re-designed by JMP’s landscape team to retain views to the bay, and to incorporate a wide variety of tree and plant species to a garden that has long been considered the finest and most elegant in the city.
The Embassy's design was conceived, fundamentally, as a clarifying reaction to the landscape of its sloping site. The building’s curving plan and partially sunken position have ensured important spatial and botanical outcomes: the outlook from the Ambassador’s residence is protected; and the range and quantity of plants and trees have been increased. Important existing plant and tree specimens have been preserved, and JMP’s landscaping scheme has also created a carefully disguised incursion standoff zone around the site, which includes two JMP-designed gatehouses.
This architectural and landscape arrangement accentuates the neo-Moorish 1902 Embassy residence, invoking the British tradition of the grand house and formal gardens.
TEAM
John McAslan + Partners, Architect
Arup, Multi-disciplinary Engineer
Mace, Design and Build Contractor
Munro White Hilton, Cost Consultant
John McAslan + Partners, Architect
Arup, Multi-disciplinary Engineer
Mace, Design and Build Contractor
Munro White Hilton, Cost Consultant
Location
Algiers, Algeria
Client
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Size
3,000 sqm
Status
Completed 2009 |
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