The Medina of Fez was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981
“The neighborhood “Place Lalla Yeddouna” is a strategic location at the nucleus of Fez Bali, the old City of Fez. This area, where the City was founded on the two banks of the River Fez, was one of the key links between the two sides of the old city, Adouat al-Qarawiyine and Adouat al-Andalous. They are connected by the Bin Lamdoun bridge, which is one of Place Lalla Yeddouna’s important historic and architectural features. “Bin Lamdoun” is Arabic for “between two cities”. Many residents of Fez refer to the area of Place Lalla Yeddouna as Bin Lamdoun”…

> 2010

… The project aims to redevelop and revitalize the neighborhood of Place Lalla Yeddouna, a very prominent and exemplary historic site in the Medina of Fez. The new design will have to meet the ambitious goal of creating an authentic urban site that is outstanding and state-of-the-art for economic, cultural and spiritual activities and events and thus generating the conditions for economic growth”
[from the Competition Brief]

>PROPOSAL
Public Spaces and Uses. Area Plan

The global design strategy is based upon the organic growth of traditional houses, forming aggregated volumes with mixed uses and becoming the courtyard as a relevant shape not only in private houses but also in commercial buildings, all collected within a coherent urban fabric. The courtyard also allows to control natural lighting and provide cross air cross circulation throughout the building to cool it down. This aggregation of enclosed cellular units is used as a conceptual way to reproduce city patterns which special sensitivity towards the site and the context

>PROPOSAL
Utilization-Circulation Concepts
Entrance Level and Sections

URBAN CONCEPT.DESIGN PHASES

Phase 0: INVENTORY
Identification of the most relevant elements inside the the urban scene such as the Qarawiyine Mosque, Chouk Mosque, the Chouwara Tanneries, the Abattoir El Gourma, the Bin Lamdoun bridge or the Bim Lamdoun parking area, wich influence in the intervention zone either for the proximity or for their singularity inside the urban context

Phase 1: DEMOLITION
Demolition of damaged buildings. Importance of the River Fez as water canal in the middle of the intervention area. When it comes to representing the urban design, we consider it is important to take into account environmental strategies such as sun protection, energy savings, thermal mass in order to muffle the temperature variations in the buildings, cooling evaporation which favor water course…

Phase 2: PRESERVATION
The preservation of the existings qualities is of maximum importance together with the discovery of new potentials like the integration of the river within the city and the views from the outside of the intervention zone. The river bed is established as part of the urban space. The natural course of the river -at the south of the Bin Lamdoun Bridge- is incorporated to the urban space keeping its environmental characteristics

Phase 3: ACCESSIBILITY
Provide the historical part of the Medina with a better accessibility by means of the transition between the mechanical and the pedestrian transport, extending the connection through the south with the Ahmed Ben Mohaded Alaoui Boulevard, which is an important point of entry

Phase 4: DEVELOPMENT
Development of a new commercial axe, which connect with the other side of the River Fez and increase the traditional uses and the proposed modern uses. Restoration of the commercial axe supported on a new bridge which extends the Baab Nora Street towards the Derb Jamal Chouk

>PROPOSAL
Urban Concept. Design Phases

>Strategies for Summertime
>Strategies for Wintertime
>Shaping the urban patterns. Operators

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DESIGN WITH CLIMATE
ENERGY AND PASSIVE DESIGN

·Comfort Level using passive strategies

·Psychrometric Chart. ASHRAE Standard 55-2001 using Predictive Mean Vote

·Location: Fes. Elevation 579 m

·Latitude/Longitude: 34º05’N 5º0’W

·Data Source: TMY2-60141 NULLWMO

Design Strategies:
January through December

01 Comfort
[19.3%-1688hrs]

02 Sun Shading of Windows
[16.8%-1472hrs]

03 High Thermal Mass
[8.0%-699hrs]

04 High Thermal Mass Night Rushed
[8.7%-763hrs]

05 Direct Evaporate Cooling
[5.4%-469hrs]

07 Natural Ventilation Cooling
[4.0%-353hrs]

09 Internal Heat Gain
[34.2%-2992hrs]

10 Passive Solar Direct Gain Low Mass
[13.9%-1214hrs]

11 Passive Solar Direct Gain High Mass
[22.5%-1968hrs]

12 Wind Protection of Outdoor Spaces
[0.4%-31hrs]

[74.4% COMFORTABLE HOURS USING SELECTED STRATEGIES: 6516 out of 8760 hrs]

Climate Consultant Soft 5.0 by UCLA Energy Design Tools Group

Strategies for Summertime

·Natural ventilation can store nightime coolness in high mass interior surfaces

·Use of high mass construction with small shaded openings operable for night ventilation to cool the mass

·Use of light colored building material and cool roofs (with high emissivity) to minimize conducted heat gain. Flap roofs work well in hot dry climate if light colored

·Shade to prevent overheating, open to breezes in summer

·High mass interior surfaces like stone, brick or tile, feel naturally cool on hot days and can reduce day-to-night temperature swings

·Use of enclosed well shaded courtyards, with a small fountain to provide wind protected microclimates

Strategies for Wintertime

·Heat gain from equipment, lights and occupants will greatly reduce heating needs so keep home tight, well insulated

·Sunny wind-protected outdoor spaces can extend living areas in cool weather

·Use compact building form with a square-ish floorplan and multiple storeis to minimize heat loss from building envelope (minimize surface to volume ratio)

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OVERALL CONCEPTS

MORPHOLOGICAL PATTERN
The use of the basic module (Dar, Fondouk) as a morphological pattern is the base for the regeneration of the urban scene

GRID
The regeneration of a compact grid based on the pattern, which remind us to the arabic urban form

CLUSTER
The compactness of the scene is reorganized by means of singular elements which strain it

VOID JUNCTION
Displacement of the courtyard towards the junction zone. The buildings interact amnog them

PLANT DIAGRAM AND SITE
The application of the model and the topography generate streets and arcades which head us to the square

OPERATORS:

COMPACT +
ASSEMBLAGE +
INTERSECTION +
VOID JUNCTION +
SITE AND CONTEXT

> 2010. Competition Area
River Fez from Bin Lamdoun Bridge
South view

> 2010. Competition Area
River Fez from Bin Lamdoun Bridge
North view

> 2010. River Fez

> 2010. Wandering around…

Architect
Jose Carlos Sanchez Romero
Studio of Architecture

Photography
1.6-9: JCSR

Drawings
2-5: © JCSR Studio of Architecture