MSHEIREB PROPERTIES has the historic task of rebuilding the centre of Qatar’s capital city in a way that reinvigorates, modernises and revives the 35 hectare site next to the Amiri Diwan and the acclaimed Souq Waqif, while being true to the traditional culture and heritage that was the foundation of the first communities of Doha. Here we examine the history of the Musheireb project and its context for the Nation.

The Musheireb project is the result of years of research by MSHEIREB PROPERTIES to fill the gap identified by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser in the architectural history of Qatar.

Her Highness realised that recent development in Doha has made Qatar’s architectural landscape almost indistinguishable from that of the rest of the world.
 

MSHEIREB PROPERTIES’s mandate therefore was to study the built environment of the past in the context of modern, innovative technologies and effectively blend it to create a new architectural language. Musheireb project is the first tangible result of that process and follows painstaking research and consultation with the foremost experts in academia and industry to reclaim this new language for the future generations.

The project started in early April 2006, when EDAW was commissioned by Qatar Foundation to plan and design a conceptual masterplan for Inner Doha. Through the project, MSHEIREB PROPERTIES’s team researched and re-evaluated the role played by the inner city site as the rest of Doha expanded and evolved in keeping with the contemporary trend to a global building vernacular.
The decision to revitalize and regenerate Musheireb came about with the realisation that the Kahraba area, once the very hub of community living, an area from where the small Doha expanded to be the modern city today, had completely lost its historic importance.

The Musheireb development is located in Inner Doha, close to the historic origins of Qatar’s capital city. The development and regeneration of the 35 hectare site is a major investment that responds to visions and challenges set by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalafi Al-Thani and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.
The project draws inspirations from Their Highness’s Vision, and strives to create “An environment of freedom, creativity, innovation, communication, meeting and interacting”. The conceptual urban plan aims to achieve a consistent blend of the Twelve Perspectives formulated as the guiding light for the project:

 
1 History 2 Continuity
3 Culture 4 Heritage
5 Urban planning and landscaping 6 Challenging architecture
7 Water 8 Environment and sustainability
9 Citizenship and community 10 Commerce and business
11 Implementation 12 Future.
 
MSHEIREB PROPERTIES partnered with international leaders for the project, ARUP - Principal consultant, project management, engineering, transportation, environmental and sustainability services, EDAW/ AECOM - Urban design, planning and landscape architecture services, Allies and Morrison Architects for Architecture services.

The successful formation of the project can be attributed to the integrated cross-discipline approach and skills of the technical team and guidance from a Peer Review Panel. The Peer Review Panel included eminent Professors in urban planning and the history of the Gulf Region from Harvard, MIT and Princeton such as Joan Busquets, Demetri Porphyrios, Stanley Allen, Guy Nordenson, Hashim Sarkis, Dr Nasser Rabbat and Mario Gandelsonas.

In addition, four firms of distinguished architects were invited to test the Conceptual Masterplan: Allies and Morrison, Porphyrios Associates, Mario Cucinella Architects, and Taller de Ideas. Michael Arnold, specialists from DTZ and Davis Langdon were engaged by MSHEIREB PROPERTIES to provide advice on commercial aspects of the development.

The Musheireb project seeks to set new standards for inner city development in the Gulf Region.
 
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