Doha, Qatar
As part of the initiative to preserve important historic buildings in Qatar, the former civil defense building has been renovated and converted by Ibrahim Jaidah and the Arab Engineering Bureau into 24 artists’ studios and art galleries to accommodate the Qatar Museums (QM) Artists in Residence Program.
The recently opened Fire Station Artists in Residence Program provides facilities to support both the local art community and international artists with the aim to encourage an exchange of ideas between the artists and cultures.
The project has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Awards Honorable Mention by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The building’s original and well-known bronze honeycomb façade was substantially retained and restored to its original condition.
The building’s interiors, while maintaining the main structural elements, have many of the internal walls removed and new studios created with twice the glass areas as before behind the honeycomb façade shading elements.
The former fire engine garage houses a new art gallery of 700m² which holds exhibitions promoting local and regional artists.
The original yellow fire engine roller doors have been restored, and a new wall is built inside them to hang artwork.
Two doors have been removed creating a glazed lobby with entry doors to the plaza and to the south side of the building.
The gallery lobby also opens to the main building entry and the corridor to the administration offices.
The existing building has been extended with a new annex building containing facilities for artists and the public.
The design philosophy was based on an intent to create a minimalist annex that does not compete with the existing building making it almost neutral.
Workshops, a foundry, and a small cinema operate alongside a restaurant, art supplies shop, a bookshop, and a café.
The new “U shape” annexed building and the renovated Fire Station form three sides of a large public plaza to be used as an outdoor gallery for sculptures.
Facing the plaza, the cafeteria has folding glass doors which in winter months open the interior to the outside seating area adjacent to the water feature.
The restaurant above the café also has operable glass doors on three sides which open to a terrace seating area, shaded under the overhanging roof.
This plaza is used for sculpture exhibitions and with its water feature it becomes a pleasant place for sitting outside the café.
The plaza on the fourth side opens to the future park and the Fire Station has become a stop for the public enjoying a walk.
The former fireman’s tower is clad in a stainless mesh and LED lighting modules which will be available for artists to program artworks, and moving graphics, and help to announce events to the public.
The tower is visible from the area of the future Grand Park and can be seen from as far away as the Museum of Islamic Art Park.
It is highly visible at night with its programmable LED lighting display and is a beacon for the Fire Station project.
Renovated areas and the new Annex building materials are stripped back to the minimum layers, with the structural concrete elements being left unfinished.
The roof of the annex is made from pre-weathered natural zinc and is a unifying architectural element for the various uses under it.
The new floors in both the existing building and the new ones are finished in a clear coated natural concrete screed.
All other new building elements are plastered and painted white, with new doors, window frames, and building services finished in a neutral grey color.
The plaza landscape area is predominantly granite with a shallow water feature invisible when empty and a reflecting pool when filled with 10 millimeters of water.
Project: Fire Station Artist in Residence
Architects: Arab Engineering Bureau
Lead Architect: Ibrahim M. Jaidah
General Contractor: UCC
Client: Qatar Museums
Photographers: Filippo Romano and Arab Engineering Bureau’s Marketing Team
