Lebanon

This remarkable project has a land ownership size of over 200 square kilometers. Designing at such a large scale requires a abroad over view. This project came to JWT through Ecosign Mounatin Resort Planners as a failed master plan create done by an international engineering conglomerate out of NYC. The plan failed to accommodate terrain change, and was simply not feasible to develop. James worked closely with Ecosign who took responsibility for the ski area planning (s much smaller component of this project), while James led the effort to lay out a plan which included a university zone, several resort and retirement communities and at its heart a pedestrian Mediterranean village located within the 200 square kilometer study boundary. The unique carbonate geology contains many distinct and unique features including several benches high up on the mountain suitable for a resort village. Out of all the interesting consultants we have worked with over the years, the team included a land mine consultant, as during the civil war our site was the route for Christian militia to restock weapons and supplies coming from the Bekaa Valley near Syria. Our client was an American from Seattle, a structural engineer who specialized in seismic refits and was hired by his brother an American Lebanese investment banker from Washington DC who had a desire to repatriate and rebuild Lebanon into a flourishing state with world class touristic facilities. This project was funded in part with $350 million from a Saudi Investor. In 2006 Israel bombed the main highway of this site cutting of access to the Bekaa Valley and ostensibly closing the door on this project being realized. This project however became another living laboratory in how to design in a unique desert and mountainous environment. The architecture proposed includes many courtyard buildings, passageways and is very much inspired by the rebuilding of Beirut by the Solitidaire development corporation. Site visits were filled with unique encounters including Syian spy tour guilds, bombs exploding at our hotel (fortunately a week after one of our departures) and a new appreciation for the hospitality of the Lebanese people and the beauty of their culture. Our daily commute to the site included driving by many relics from the civil war, as well as Roman ruins, including ancient Rome’s largest law school.