Beirut Digital District (BDD)is surely becoming the new hub for the digital and creative industries in Lebanon, acting as an all-inclusive community hosting Incubator and Accelerator Parks for innovative startups and Commercial Parks to accommodate medium and large enterprises. BDD provides the ideal business environment coupled with value added services and state-of-the-art infrastructure so that companies can increase their productivity and thus grow. BDD will offer the healthiest living environment where the young and dynamic workforce can Work and live with their families, all at competitive rates.In May 2015, a CNN report labeled the project as “Lebanon’s Silicon Valley”.

PARALX, a Beirut based Architecture practice responsible for the design,has conceived the project as a place where the creative experience can flourish:TheBDD “open” Masterplan connects to the city though piazzas and landscaped areas, incorporating & renovating old structures neighboring the site. Once completed, the development will boost more than 150,000 SQM of office space, apartments, hotel rooms, shops & entertainment facilities.

Located on the Green Line that separated Beirut between East & West during the civil war years, T3 residential tower reflects the Masterplan vision of being a space for convergence rather than one of segregation;conceived as “slab & glass”, its transparency blurs the line that split the city throughout the years.

The space program consists of cafes/ restaurants on the GF level &serviced apartments on the lower levels; both enjoy views to the green areas & piazzas. Residential apartments are located on the upper floors throughout the tower, conceived with different size & type, targeting mainly the creative class theICT users belong to.

Units were conceived to have an open space, high ceilings & a “mini piazza” -which could either have a hung garden or a plunge pool, extending the green areas vertically on the building, with views towards downtown, the Mediterranean & the mountains surrounding Beirut. PARALX has just been awarded the Merit Design Award by the AIA (American Institute of Architects) in Los Angeles for the T3 tower. The prestigious award is given every year to projects that demonstrate an excellence in Architectural design.

Quoting the jury, “the careful design considerations in plan, elevation & sectional development makes this a successful high rise”. The jury added “the way the experience of the units translates all the way through to the edges of the building, makes it a very interesting façade on the urban scale”.