Jordan Airlines

Location
Amman, Jordan

Size
18 000m²

Client
Royal Jordanian Airlines

Built
2012

Residential developments on a grid layout, of approximately 3-5 storeys lie adjacent to the west, south and across the main road to the east.The development site is rectilinear, and lies on a west-north-west / east-south-east axis, with the south side along Mawlood Mukhless road and east side predominantly exposed to the Jordanian sun.

Configuration and Concept

The aim of our project is to provide a sustainable development around an active secure inner street. One of the primary aspirations of our proposal is to promote and secure a high standard of design within an environment that reinforces Royal Jordanian Airlines ‘brand’. Our proposal addresses all requirements of the brief, specifically promoting a strong sense of place, and establishing a series of network routes and a sequence of spaces to compliment the new built form and help announce the development along the Mohamed Ali Janah main road.

Analysis of the rectilinear site suggests that two linear buildings running parallel to Mawlood Mukhless road provides the most efficient footprint configuration that would also benefit from natural daylight and ventilation. The linear buildings would shield an inner street sheltered from direct sunlight, which forms the ‘heart’ of the building, similar to the traditional Arabian ‘souk’. Dual poles are created at either end of the ‘street’ consisting of main entrance reception and ‘public dealing hall’ to the east, and a private canteen opening out onto a soft landscaped oasis to the west. These poles act as magnets drawing people past the diverse activities as they move along the ‘street’.As a concept, one block is ‘static’ and the other ‘dynamic’. To the north, the static linear block anchors the building on the site and provides a solid face to any future development to the north. The southern block becomes expressive and is the signature of the building. Resembling the smooth aerodynamics of a plane, the block grows out from the elevated south-west corner of the site growing to a pinnacle as it reaches Mohamed Ali Janah main road creating a landmark feature that will be seen from all approaches to the site.A greeting point of the main reception is located to the left (south side) with the additional front of house accommodation set behind. This provides a clear welcoming point where visitors sign in before being allowed access further into the building