On the northern stretch of Rue du Liban, at the intersection of Art Deco heritage and Mandate-era elegance, modernity and contemporary revivals, along a street officially recognized for its historical significance, the question arises: how to design a residential building under 50 meters in height that both navigates the constraints of building regulations and fulfills the promise of distinctive, well-lit, and pleasurable apartment living.
To make the building “breathe” on the 9 m street of Rue du Liban, we opted to set back as much as possible and rise vertically before being constrained by the street gabarit, which forces stepping back even further. Volumetrically, the result is a tripartite building, with a body of seven floors (2 apartments per floor), a transitional high floor of 3 duplexes on the 8th and 9th floors, and a crown of two full-floor simplexes and a three-level penthouse at the top. An ample pilotis ground floor, as a “tribute to the Bauhaus,” cantilevers to the maximum extent possible creating ample terraces on the first floor apartments.
Acknowledging the “towerette” of the now classified Kassatly building across the street and its Art Deco heritage, as well as the Venetian influences on Lebanese typologies—such as the central hall, cross ventilation, colored stained glass, and open staircase experiences—we reinterpret these elements into a simple contemporary language of curving slabs that reiterates the towerette as a side tower, a slab edge and a towering ending at the top. We intersperse the building with native landscaping, including Judas trees, wisteria on the roof, and olive trees across the floors.
We called it Murano.
Murano rises in Beirut like a shard of Venetian dawn — a building where light becomes material and architecture becomes breath. Inspired by the pastel alchemy of Murano glass, its façade captures the city’s shifting skies, softening them into hues of blush, celadon, and pale amber. Every surface is a crystalline veil: translucent, shimmering, alive. Here, Mediterranean heritage meets a modern, dreamlike clarity. Beirut’s vibrance flows through its spaces like light through colored glass, revealing new tones with every hour.
Murano is not simply a building — it is an atmosphere. A luminous gesture. A place where the serenity of Venetian craft and the intensity of Beirut’s light come together to form a new architectural poetry. A home shaped by color. A landmark shaped by transparency. A statement shaped by the art of turning light into life.
Project Status: Invited Competition, 1st Prize. Ongoing
Designed by Karim Nader, Dominique Shemali, Leoanardo al Abboud, Ribal Tarhini
Technical Control by SOCOTEC
Legal Consultant Joseph Menassa
Structural Engineering by Elie Turk
Mechanical and Electrical Engineering by Bureau Elias abou Khaled
Visualization by Cleerstudio.