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Taking full advantage of a professional relationship that goes back decades and transcends geographic boundaries, Diyar Al Kuwait (DAK) commissioned KEO International in 2008 to design the pioneer project for the Lusail District in Doha.

The programme for the project is relatively straightforward. It is based on a mixed use development consisting of commercial, residential and retail spaces. It encompasses 247,044m² of allowable area – 159,989m² for commercial; 130,220m² for office space; and 29,769m² for retail.

The residential programme is comprised of 640 one-bedroom and two-bedroom flats as well as 27 four-bedroom duplex townhouses. The area allowable for residential space is approximately 87,055m².

Two basement parking levels plus a partial ground for the mezzanine level provide the 4,070 parking spaces required for the development.

According to Dherar Al-Nisf, the project manager from Diyar Al Kuwait, KEO’s design and build capabilities are unparalleled and their vision for this site was spot on. Speaking exclusively to Middle East Architect, Al-Nisf considers its very typology the most attractive element in the project because a mixed-use facility is how a single project becomes a functioning district.

“A stand-alone project was desirable for everyone involved, including the master developer Qatari Diar, DAK as the sub-developer and the whole city of Doha. Lusail aims to provide a whole new district to the city. This is our vision,” explains Al-Nisf.

Providing a turn key solution that includes everything from architectural design to construction management, KEO is working to ensure that the stringent time frame of the project is met. “We’re looking to begin construction somewhere between the third quarter of 2010 and the end of the year,” says Al-Nisf.

KEO’s Abu Dhabi-based design director, Raj Patel, shares his client’s optimism. “[DAK] is hoping to be in the ground by December. It’s aggressive but it’s doable,” says Patel of the US$ 800 million project.

The master developer on Lusail is currently implementing the infrastructure contracts on the entire development, so when more projects do come on line, they’ll be able to make full use of the transportation, plumbing and electrical facilities. In fact, the site for DAK’s mixed-use development is what inspired a portion of its design.

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The site for this project is located in the southeastern corner of the Lusail Development in the Marina District. Lusail lies north of Doha City and roughly 20km north of the yet-to-be-completed Doha International Airport and within a few kilometres of the West Bay Development and The Pearl – both of which aim to become bustling urban centres in their own right.

The site is bounded by the creek at its southern edge, the Gulf to the east and the internal road network of the Lusail Development at its northern and western edge.

“The tall towers are on the north side because that’s where the main thoroughfare and the rest of the commercial developments will be located. That positioning allowed us to put residential on the southern and eastern points near the water and away from the hustle and bustle,” explains Patel.

Although ideal for residential and commercial inhabitants, the site came with some significant challenges, the first of which was the sheer size of the project. “The biggest challenge on the site was how to accommodate the area we were allowed – almost 250,000m² – within the guidelines that they were requiring in terms of setbacks and building heights,” says Patel.

“If you look at the residential,” continues Patel, “we have strung out the buildings as far as we could because we couldn’t go any higher than what they are now. We were limited to 50 metres of height. The residential had to be short and so the office buildings needed some height.”