Namma shipping lines. Nesma Holding Company Ltd
The project represents a completely new development along the coast of the Safaga which is considered a serious attempt to shape the future of “identity” to the city. This compound is envisaged as a locale where residents and visitors will experience an exceptionally ‘Good’ quality of life where the design aims to revive the traditions, not in an out-fashioned manner but adapted and integrated to the needs of today’s technical and practical world. It aims to establish a balance between new spatial concepts and the existing context in almost all aspects of urban design. The compound intends to provide the residents with a living environment that is advanced, satisfying and safe. Cohesive, yet varied and interesting, it is hoped to be recognized by its leading-edge architecture and design process in the area in order to achieve a contemporary expression of the structural principles that govern traditional desert architecture.
The client for Namma shipping compound provided an open brief to build a prototype development of residences for the company’s employees in Safaga. The architect’s response to this site of natural beauty was to create an inspiring and exemplary model of a responsible compound, modelled in small scale residences of low density, and integrated with the environment to bring residents into closer contact with their natural surroundings. The concept is to create a pleasant space that people may live, gather and share experience willingly, providing variant residences for employees of the company or guests to rent. Since the land has no relief and had few planning possibilities, the designers wanted to take advantage of the site desert properties to totally fit in place amidst the horizontal lines of the site and surroundings in order to make the most of the immediate environment and create sufficient interesting desert-type landscape.
