Damascus School Building, Syrian Architecture, Ateliers Lion Associés, Dagher Hanna & Partners

Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, Syria : Damascus Building

Building Development in Damascus, Middle East: Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2013 Shortlist News

3 May 2013

Architects: Ateliers Lion Associés, Dagher Hanna & Partners, Paris, France

Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, Damascus, Syria

building photograph © AKAA / Alhadi Albaridi

Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in Damascus

This education building in Damascus, Syria, has been shortlisted for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2013.

building photo © AKAA / Alhadi Albaridi

In designing school facilities in this desert climate, the architects opted for natural ventilation, a decision with crucial implications for the morphology of their solutions. The Syrian buildings are typically two-storey patio structures each giving onto a small, lush, and sheltered garden.

building photo © AKAA / Alhadi Albaridi

The garden is the building block, creating the microclimate, feeding cool air into the ventilation system through PVC pipes, made to circulate by means of the updraft created by solar chimneys. The walls are double-block for its thermal properties: solid concrete on the inside and concrete breeze-blocks on the outside, separated by an air pocket. The classrooms are arranged in rows on both sides of major axes, in a pattern of alternating buildings and gardens.

building pictures © AKAA / Courtesy of Architect

Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle Damascus – Building Information

Location: Damascus, Syria (West Asia)
Architect: Ateliers Lion Associés, Dagher Hanna & Partners, Paris, France
Client: French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Completed: 2008
Design: 2006
Site size: Ground floor area: 4,995 m2 – Total site area: 10,000 m2

building pictures © AKAA / Alhadi Albaridi