Institute for Creative Industries (Former Salt and Soda Factory)

The fall of Alexandria after Alexander the Great died came slowly. First, the city began losing significance and was only used as an essential port, but development beyond that had stopped. Actual development began during Muhammed Ali’s rule, as he had seen the impact of Alexandria in Egypt and the world. He began expanding the city towards the west, expanding its ports and empowering its defence towers. This was when the grid fabric of the city morphed into a more complex fabric because Muhamed Ali Pasha began expanding El Mahmudeya Canal. In 1930 EL FARKHA CANAL, Before the Moharam Bek highway construction, a canal existed where a village called El Farkha was located at the end of the city. This village was home to Nubian people who immigrated from El Nuba to work in the city. In 1970 EL SUEZ CANAL ROAD El Farkha canal slowly began to demolish and was not taken care of it, so a new road was constructed to connect the area with the rest of the city as part of the expansion of Alexandria. In 2010 MOHARAM BEK HIGHWAY The expansion of the south of the city was needed, so a highway was constructed. And so a new road was constructed to connect the area with the rest of the city as part of the expansion of Alexandria. In 2020 Mariout Lake Road – Current State The Marriott Lake was beginning to reach a terrible state due to low maintenance and lack of usage. It became a dangerous area and was used as a new highway. The 10,000-meter square building will revitalise the surrounding area by creating private and public plazas on the ground floor and creating connections with the new mahmodeya ring road, This project offers the rare opportunity to give this magnificent building a new lease of life. It is an excellent example of Spanish industrial work, and our design aims to retain its original spirit while creating a flexible workplace that is adaptable to new and emerging ways of working. We have developed a design underpinned by our shared sustainability vision, demonstrating our environmental commitment. Industrial heritage core concept Industrial heritage consists of the remains of industrial culture of historical, technological, social, architectural or scientific value. These remains consist of buildings, machinery, workshops, mills and factories, mines and sites for processing and refining, Ware houses and stores, places where energy is generated transmitted and used, transport and all its infrastructure, and places used for social activities related to the industry. Adaptive Reuse of Salt and soda factory will be applied as a part of the project. The factory is unique among its factories and residential surroundings because of its distinctive style inspired by the English style from 1950; a part of the factory 1979 was added to the oil machines. The landscape in the project involves a grid modelling of the entire area, in which the various activities of the institute are located in gathered areas, giving identity to the individual assets and minimising the impact of the built above ground. This development at the territorial level, capable of enhancing all the area’s strengths, creates a solid and flexible urban pattern. The project touches on all the different branches linked to architecture, from urban planning to the constructive detail of the teaching.