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Selected in an international invited competition, the Olayan School of Business results from focused attention on its program, the production and the transmission of knowledge, the quality of its interior life, and the specific particularities of the school, its personality, and its people.
The building includes, first, a large green oval carefully located on the axis of existing steps that will become a major access to the sea, connecting students from the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, and beyond to the Corniche’s elevated edge. Second, the design creates an L-shaped four-story building with a traversable ground plane consisting of four enclosed pieces. These are grouped around the School’s central space, a triangular open courtyard. Porous and transparent, this floor promotes collegiality, containing the school’s lobby, auditorium, café and terrace, as well as student facilities, mailboxes, and related social programs.
To clarify way-finding and the building’s legibility, the undergraduate education facilities are located on the second floor, graduate education, the MBA program, on the third, and the Executive Education program on the fourth floor, which also contains the Dean’s Office in its corner. The triangular courtyard joins these three levels, and each overlooks the space, enriching it with their different lives.
The building is wrapped by a screen-like skin of Forni limestone blocks, a material that is characteristic of the campus and region. The openings in the screen are tighter on the lower floor to provide shading for classrooms, and more open on the upper floor to capture views of the Mediterranean from faculty offices.