BLC Bank

Photograph courtesy of Bernard Khoury/DW5.

Project Details

• Project Name: BLC Bank
• Client: BLC Bank
• Project Type: Commercial/Bank
• Principal Designer/s: Bernard Khoury
• Design Team: DW5
• Contractor/s: AFAK
• Date of completion of project: 2004
• Location of site: Chtaura, Lebanon
• Site Area: 800 sq. mt.
• Cost of Construction/Execution: USD 700000

Photograph courtesy of Bernard Khoury/DW5.

Words from the architect

The BLC Bank mission consists of a complete architectural identity package including design and decoration work. Our first assignment (2002) includes the design of the pilot branch in Beirut, which incorporates all the architectural features that will be adopted in the 37 remaining local branches. The majority of the works will be executed in existing locations throughout the country. New independent structures are also planned. The first BLC Bank pavilion is located in Chtaura, Lebanon, on a high traffic road, just a few kilometers away from the Syrian border.

Photograph courtesy of Bernard Khoury/DW5.

Our scheme translates the Bank's ambitious implementation strategy through highly visible urban interventions. The footprint of the building is shaped by the vehicular movement around it and the exposure of the Bank pavilion to the traffic. The facade of the building is finished in black aluminum sheets with horizontal slit openings that provide framed views of the outside. Vertical glass blades are placed on the remaining portions of the facade where generous vertical openings into the Bank's gardens are located. A vehicular automated teller machine is placed at the frontal tip of the building under the roof's overhang. The plan is organized around a central lobby and an interior garden. A technical tower is placed on the roof of the building, it contains all the mechanical systems and it incorporates the Bank's emblem.

Credits

• Text: Bernard Khoury/DW5
• Photographs: Bernard Khoury/DW5