In adhering to the Kuwait Fund for Advanced Science’s vision for a design that cements the location of their new headquarter as a scientific landmark in Kuwait, as well as ensuring that the design serves as an iconic architectural element (across multiple hierarchies within the design) that is a model for future developments both within Kuwait and the Gulf region; The Headquarter design solution ensures the above criteria are met on multiple scales through different mediums of design, landscaping, façade systems, environmental sensitivity, climatic responsiveness and site integration.

The implemented design strategy utilised a biological model of evolution to generate a population of phenotypes that evolve towards optimal fitness. Where fitness is the measure of how well the building performs to specific objectives. One such objective was modifying the building’s orientation and geometry in response to the annual heat gain calculated on the building’s façade. The orientation of the building as well as variation in heights allowed for multiple layers of overshadowing on the building itself as well as the surrounding landscape. This was key to ensure the public spaces provided (both on rooftops as well as ground floor) are partially shaded by the building’s morphology, allowing for increased use of these spaces during longer periods of the year.

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The façade system is comprised from a modular system that is component based, where each component responds directly to its own solar conditions. The external façade was subdivided into a densely packed point cloud, onto which a solar analysis was conducted for one full calendar year. This analysis provided us with invaluable empirical data that defined how much solar gain was received by each point on the façade; as such, this allowed us to modify the opening size and slope angle of each façade component in response to the panel’s orientation to the sun and the amount of solar gain it receives.