Ets. Abdulrahim Diab

Retail-Showroom & Offices / January 2020

Ets. Abdulrahim Diab

Project  Ets. Abdulrahim Diab
Client  Abdulrahim & Sayf Diab
Architect Rabih Geha Architects
Contractor Aridi Contracting & Engineering Company
Type Retail / Showroom & Offices
Location Dekwaneh, Beirut- Lebanon
Area  1650 sqm
Year January 2020
Photo credit Tony Elieh
Visuals credit Rabih Geha Architects
Link www.abdulrahimdiab.com/

RG/A is based on the ideology of weaving human identities with the spirit and history of a space, to create a unified environment that embodies both equally.

When RG/A was invited to transform one of Ets. Abdulrahim Diab’s warehouses into a showroom, a road less travelled was taken. The history of the establishment became the foundation, yet a more contemporary approach was undertaken to convert the industrial space into one where one could feel comfortable enough to move, discover and explore.

The concrete pavement floor, 8meter high steel door and fluted glass panels define the entrance to the showroom.

A base of concrete, a touch of steel, a splash of color. The space is an unexpected range of materials and hues that fall together to build a lively, yet serious space made both for wonderment and work.

From the onset, the exterior combines green exposed steel, white concrete facades and large panels of glass to create an industrial monument that dominates its industrial surroundings.

One step inside and the sidewalk follows suit, spilling itself onto the interior floor, as if imploring for the outside world to be brought in.

Inside, a grid of massive white columns guides the eye upwards as light floods through large panels of glass.

Concrete, steel and glass in their primitive and raw states are the backdrop for the primary red and green, the stark white and black, contrasting the overall rigidity of the space with their playful existence.

Large panels of glass invite the light in; warmth dances with the coolness of steel, rays of sun are absorbed into concrete.

The dynamic interior is built to shift walls, redirect light and create a space where people can mold their surroundings to better suit their day.

The Ets. Abdulrahim Diab showroom perfectly reflects RG/A’s ongoing mission to create spaces that communicate history, welcome the present, and combine the beauty of the two to create an entity that will last for generations.