Opposite Abu Dhabi’s historic Qasr Al Hosn Fort sits the Cultural Foundation, a Grade A listed cultural centre of Bauhaus origins completed in 1981. While the Fort represents the historic memory and origin of the city, the Cultural Foundation is the cultural heart of Abu Dhabi as the first institution dedicated to arts and literature of the region, thus holding a prominent position as an architectural landmark representing the city’s modern heritage.
The transformed Cultural Foundation contains an exhibition hall, gallery spaces, workshops offering classes to the public, an artist-in-residence programme, the Children’s Library, a performing arts centre including a 896-seat theatre, restaurants and a roof terrace.
The architectural approach preserves the building’s expression, materiality and atmosphere while at the same time carrying on the original architectural philosophy into a contemporary context by adding new functions and making a series of precise architectural interventions. The central ground floor is transformed into an open exhibition hall for changing activities connecting the interior with the surrounding park and inner courtyard, accentuated by the carefully conserved play of light, shadow and aesthetic details of the arched walkway running along the façade line.
Furthermore, an existing diagonal passage at ground level is expanded upwards to create an unroofed vertical space that in its directionality accentuates relation to the Fort. This new panoptic space opens the compact volume, allowing daylight to filter downwards while also giving access to the third main architectural alteration, a large public rooftop terrace offering spectacular views of the Fort.
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Last year more than 40 countries took part in the WAN Awards with strong showings from Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. And we saw some truly outstanding projects, take a look at the winners from last year here.