HALA GHATASHEH
MEDIA ARCHITECT
2014
Sky Promenade
Hala Ghatasheh
Sky Promenade is a vertical college campus in the new downtown of the Jordanian capital city Amman. A continious vertical social axis, which is formed from a series of gardens/plazzas that emerge from the landscape, and continue vertically throughout the building at different levels surrounded by academic functions. These sky gardens perform as venues for social gatherings, Interaction, and active learning.
Project Information:
Sky Promenade - Business Administration School
Location: Amman, Jordan
Design Year: 2013/2014
Type: High-rise Architecture
Project Supervisor: Arch. Bisher Zureikat
Design:
The most important features of the design are the landscape, circulation, and sustainable approaches. Those features led to the generation of the building's form. The building's main functions were placed on the south and north facades to harness natural daylight. Then the building was slightly rotated so that its main axis would be perpendicular to the direction of the prevailing wind for natural Ventilation purposes.
Layout:
The common areas of the building such as the auditorium and bookshop are on the ground floor level, and are accessible by the public. The tower building is formed of two types of units; academic and administrative. Each unit is formed of an L-shaped floor plan housing its related functions, with terraces over looking an organic shaped garden. The sky gardens house the university's informal and social functions. The organic skin wraps the entire building, enveloping the sky gardens and forming their shape.
Landscape:
The dynamic landscape forms plazzas at various levels emerging from the ground, and invading the college building vertically, creating the sky gardens at intermediate floors. An organic architectural skin wraps the building, enveloping the sky gardens and creating contrast between the academic and social spaces.
Sustainable Approaches:
The building utilizes sustainable approaches, such as natural ventilation, rain water collection, and waste water recycling and re-use for the irrigation of the sky gardens. The organic skin provides daylight control, as well as electricity generation through vertical & horizontal louvers with integrated pv cells. The landscape is equiped with solar benches with integrated pv cells that generate enegy for electricity and wifi. As for the vertical circulation, the building is equipped with levytators, an energy-saving alternative to escalators.