St -Elie project is located in Mtaile Brih, meaning panoramic in Arabic, 45km from Beirut, a region characterized by its terraced topography and vegetation abundance. It is also a region with a heavy historical heritage, which led to violent clashes during the civil war between 1975 and 1990, resulting in the near-total destruction of houses, places of worship and the displacement of villagers. St -Elie project is the first project of reconciliation in the region.

The project arose with the will to gather by celebrating the elements of nature. It revolves around two squares opening to the panorama and entails St. Elie Church and a semi-sunken base.

Radiant with its white bush hammered stone cladding, the church solemnly sets in the landscape, inspiring renewal. Its aspect embodies the characteristics of the Maronite Church: pure massing and flat roof. The interior is crafted and hierechized by indirect lighting schemes: zenithal lighting above the altar, sacristy and confessional, and parietal along the lateral circulations; the white walls seem to diffuse natural light, the marble floor reflecting it in turn.

The base, deriving its language from the region’scultivated terraces, remodels the topography of the hillside to house the multipurpose hall and its annexes. Its dry stone walling, extracted from the site by local artisans and procuredfrom the village’s demolished houses during the war, anchors the project in the ground by mimicry.

Due to its location and the contrast of its materials, the project tends to create a new focal point in the Shouf’s valley of Gold and writes a new page in the history of Mount Lebanon.