Bab-Al-Sheikh

In 1982 the Government of Iraq to RBTA commissioned the development of a district of Baghdad. The site of approximately 2.3 hectares lies 100 meters north from the Al-Gaylani mosque, and includes a group of old houses which are to be preserved. This ambitious urban renewal included the construction of over 150 single-family homes with a maximum height of three floors.

RBTA’s scheme was based on a rationalized rectilinear layout which could easily be inserted into the existing fabric, with its markedly traditional character. There was a certain geometrical pattern to the area clearly manifested in the serial view of solids and voids. The streets are mostly pedestrians, with those intended for vehicular traffic and services clearly defined.  Special attention was devoted to the lines of communication with the walls of the mosque.

The new district consists of a series of parallel pedestrian streets, crossed at right angles by a transverse street which forms a roofed courtyard at each intersection. This street acts as the backbone: two storey higher, with the covered courtyard and the porticoes running its full length, this will be the focus of attraction for the population. It also runs between the two nuclei of old houses, where it takes on its noblest form, in a kind of hypostyle hall. The architecture counterpoints the charm of the existing traditional buildings through the design of the new buildings, faithful to the traditions of the cultural legacy of Islam, without lapsing into facile caricature of the magnificent pieces of architecture in the vicinity.

The program includes traditional but modern three bedroom individual family housing developed around a patio, and a limited amount of apartments (duplex or triplex) with patios or roof terraces; a fully integrated parking scheme and atomic shelter for the inhabitants; a shaded pedestrian route (inspired in the local souks) containing small shops running parallel to Sheik Omar Street which has larger scale downtown commercial premises; a recreational , meeting  area and a tea room at the centre of the project.

Although the scheme is pedestrian orientated, it is proposed that all roads can be used by service vehicles while public traffic flow is reduced to two lateral roads serving the adjacent parking.

The electrical substation and service building imposed on the site have been adapted and suitable hidden so they are virtually invisible to the passerby.

Some existing buildings built at the beginning of the XX century that had to be preserved are fully integrated into the project to be used by the general public as facility buildings such as nursery, youth club, police station, etc.