Bayt K – Annabel Karim Kassar

₀₃ Bayt K–Handle With Care, 2017-2019 Architecture

Restructuring of A Traditional Lebanese House

Footprint 1300 M2

Area 1,000 M2

Ongoing

Built in the 19th century for a prominent Lebanese family in the final decades of the Ottoman Empire, arranged over 3 floors, the property has 1000 m2 floor space, with an enclosed 700 m2 garden to the rear. The ground floor is comprised of open-fronted shops, which would traditionally have been rented out to merchants, with the family residing in the two spacious stories overlooking the street and gardens below.

The architectural interventions consist of three main elements of works:

1– Consolidation
As the most urgent action to be taken in order to save the remains of this architectural heritage especially after the collapse of the southern façade called LIWAN directly propped with its pitched roof by a dense scaffolding.

2– Architecture – Reconstruction
This scaffolding has led the architect to rethink the reconstruction of that fallen volume.

Traditionally, the noble façade was on the northern side overlooking the sea and the merchant street of Beirut while the southern one was the back yard with no architectural attention.
Nowadays, the street has become very noisy and overbuilt with no sea view.

Therefore, the inhabitants of today prefer the southern, sunnier and calmer side animated by the newly added elements (in red): like the rooftop workshop, the golden fire escape stairwell and the footbridge emerging from the LIWAN leading to the Roman pool which runs all along the neighboring stone wall.

The architect has rebuilt the LIWAN as a full glass volume opening onto the rear garden and revealing the traditional triple arcade hidden once behind the old stone southern façade.
In order to join the two separate floors of olden times internally, the architect has created a void filled with a bookstair installation.

3– Conservation / Restoration
Ornamented ceilings, walls and floors of this big house are the subject of this third element finding a balance between a full restoration and conservation.

The original fabric should be clearly identified without damaging the legibility of the new architectural composition.

PRESS

Within the historical and colorful district of Gemmayzeh in Beirut, Annabel Karim Kassar (AKK) Architects has undertaken the careful restoration of a traditional 19th-century building dating back to 1870.

INSTAGRAM

A diamond in the rough • #HandleWithCare #newproject #AKKarchitects #restoration #conservation #culturalheritage #ottomanempire #architecture #design #historicalbuilding #Beirut #LebaneseHistory #Gemmayze • Foto: @ibairigby

PRESS

Annabel Karim Kassar is rescuing traditional Lebanese architecture to show how the past and present can seamlessly co-exist in the face of the modernisation that is sweeping through Beirut.

PRESS

BAYT K was first presented at Beirut Design Week 2017 as part of AKK Architects’ Handle with Care exhibition, which announced plans for the full restoration of the building, retaining the original features while transforming it into a contemporary family home.

PRESS

Bayt K is under restoration by AKK Architects in an effort to conserve endangered architecture in Lebanon – and their ongoing work is up for an award.