THE BEIRUT SOUKS

• Location: Weygand street, Beirut, Lebanon

• Plot: 60,000 m2
• BUA: 100,000 – 120,000 m2
• Developer: Solidere
• Architects: Rafael Moneo, Samir Khairallah, Valode & Pistre, Annabel Kassar, Nabil Tabbarah,
Olivier Vidal
• Project value: USD 160 million excluding land cost
• Retail space (GLA): 55,000 – 60,000 m2
• Retail outlets: 30,000 m2 - 200 stores
• Jewellery Souk: 10,000 m2
• Hypermarket: 7,000 m2
• Department Store: 15,000 m2 with 12,000 m2 of retail space
• Leisure space: 18,000 m2 with 8-screen cinema
• Food space: 7,000 m2 with restaurants and fast food outlets
• Office space: 11,000 m2
• Parking: 2,550 places
• Completion date: 2008

CONCEPT
Designed in five separate commissions by international and Lebanese architects, Beirut Souks offer
128,000 sq m of built-up area interspersed with landscaped pedestrian zones.

Beirut Souks are geographically divided into two main parts. An underground car park serves and
extends below both sections.

The development derives the name of its sections as well as its identity, urban plan and architectural
character from the legacy of the old Souks, drawing its inspiration from the urban relationships and
historical layers of the site. Visiting the Souks today is a cultural voyage in time and space, as one sees
and feels the historicity of the place incorporated in the contemporary design. An intricate three-
dimensional network provides vistas and surprising juxtapositions that create a rich labyrinthine
experience fully integrated with the city fabric.

The Souks open bazaar provides a high quality urban environment as a shopping center and a people’s
place, affording a number of leisure and cultural opportunities.

The integration of heritage and modernity is evident as visitors stroll along the modern Souks and
discover several archeological sites integrated into the landscape, such as the sunken courtyard of the
medieval wall and moat below Souk Jamil, the unearthed late Phoenico-Persian harbor side settlement
under Souk Ayyas and the restored mosaics from Byzantine shops in Souk Al Franj.

One can also linger on the various plazas, such as Ajami, Bab Idriss and Imam Ouzai squares, or near
Intabli Fountain; enjoy an event or activity, maybe a concert; meet and sample any of the concept
restaurants and cafés in inviting settings; or come face to face with contemporary art.

The Souks follow the highest contemporary standards for retail space and leisure. As an open bazaar of
the 21st century, retail units form shopping streets that offer a concentration of the finest local and
international brands.

The tenant-mix approach developed for the Souks Core strategically places exclusive concept and
stand-alone boutiques among flagship and other traffic generating stores, while the Gold Souk is made
up primarily of jewelry, watches and leather goods, in addition to a major restaurant space with
terraces overlooking and animating the trading level.

Food and beverage outlets offer unique concepts, with exclusivity for Beirut Souks. Eight signature
restaurants have opened to date around the Souks as well as a large food hall on the ground level.

The South Souks structure includes eight main sectors, Fakhry Bey, Gold Souk, Tawila, Ayyas, Jamil,
Patriarch Hoyek, Arwam and Ajami Square; and five subsectors, Sayyour, Bustros, Arwad, Al Franj and
Bab Idriss.

The ground floor level covers the entire South Souks, accessible from the surrounding streets. In the
Souks Core, the upper level links Souk Arwam, Souk Bab Idriss and part of Souk Jamil with Weygand
Street.

The main street entrances are from Imam Ouzai and Bab Idriss squares on Weygand Street; by
escalators and stairs from Fakhry Bey Square; via Ajami on Trablous Street; and by stairs on Patriarch
Hoyek Street. Additionally, there are two main elevator and escalator access points in the Souks to the
underground car park, located on Souk Sayyour between Arwam and Jamil souks, and on Ajami
Square at the base of Souk Jamil.
At street level on the corner of Weygand and Allenby streets, the Gold Souk features shops sheltered
by covered alleys and deep arcades that form a nanatural
tural extension to Maarad Street, connecting the
Souks to the restored heart of the city. The Gold Souk enclave houses two
two-flour
flour pavilions linked by a
network of charming passages and squares. A shaded lane with glass shopfronts, reminiscent of the old
goldd souk, leads from Jewelers' Square, lined with tightly packed boutiques, to Souk Ayyas. On the
pavilions top level, one or more restaurants will have terraces overlooking the surrounding souks and
squares.