Dohaland’s Knowledge Enrichment Centre, an innovative floating venue on the Corniche, is set to become the culture and knowledge hub of the city. It will bring city residents together and will offer a venue for workshops, seminars, conferences and exhibitions that would encourage a new culture of exchanging and sharing knowledge and ideas. The Knowledge Enrichment Centre’s activities and events will reaffirm Dohaland’s heritage, innovation, sustainability, enrichment and environment values, through engagement, empowerment and edutainment. The ‘Musheireb’ project is intended to rediscover the heart of the city, converting it into a model community complete with everything that an ideal city can offer. With its comfortable homes, friendly neighbourhoods, and the Main Square, the ‘Musheireb’ is poised to become the hub of a modern city that incorporates the distinctive qualities of Doha and meets the needs of modern-day citizens. The project also emphasises the importance of family and social relationships between people. It attempts to rediscover the essence of the Qatari community, making it possible through compact neighbourhoods, pedestrian friendly streets and shaded pathways, in addition to major facilities and services such as schools and malls all within walking distance. “This will help reinvigorate the traditional kinship networks that are very important for the Qatari people as well as enhance the sense of local community and urban identity,” said Eng Issa M Al Mohannadi, Dohaland CEO. Traditional Qatari architectural elements will prevail throughout the development, rediscovering the wisdom of Qatari traditions that utilised sustainable and innovative techniques taking advantage of climatic conditions such as wind and sun to provide cooling, shade, as well as modern technologies such as the use of solar energy. The site is located in an approximately 35 hectares area, bordered by Al Rayyan Road to the North, Jassim Bin Mohamed Street to the East, Musheireb Street to the South, and Al Diwan Street (part of Ring Road A) to the West. It is adjacent to the newly redeveloped Souq Waqif, a successful mixed-use scheme based on a traditional souq, and Al Koot Fort. The project will be built on a total area of 760,000 square metres. The development will comprise 226 buildings and will be home to 27,637 residents. It will have around 13,700 parking lots as well as a dedicated tramway, with a combination of commercial and residential properties, retail, cultural and entertainment areas. There will be parks and open spaces with a total area of 122,217 square metres. The main structures that will be built at the ‘Musheireb’ project will include the National Archive, vehicle service station below ground under Masat Street, a theatre with a capacity of between 500 to 700 people and a museum. The project will also comprise three types of hotels, including a 175-225 rooms lifestyle hotel, a 225-300 rooms luxury hotel and a 250-rooms business hotel. It will feature as well several facilities, including dedicated below grade servicing station for heavy vehicles, purpose-built under road service-ways, centralized district cooling and vacuum waste disposal system, to name just a few. The Musheireb is where the ancient and the modern meet and where technology and tradition merge to create harmony. At the heart of modern Doha, Musheireb is cohesive translation of heritage and innovation into a single architectural language that goes beyond cosmetic decoration to create a deeply rooted yet refreshing urban culture. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=January2010&file=Local_News201001143921.xml

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