003 — 29.5321° N, 35.4208° E
Research · Under construction
Desert Observatory
A low earthen mass half-buried in the dunes, with a single oculus turned to the night sky.
01Concept
Darkness is the programme. Everything — path lighting, windows, even the colour of the walls — is arranged to protect the dark so that the sky can be read.
Brief
Telescope halls, laboratories and twenty guest rooms for visiting researchers, with zero light spill.
02Design challenges / Design solutions
Design challenges
Day-to-night temperature swings of 25 °C that distort optical equipment.
Design solutions
Rammed-earth walls store the day's heat and release it slowly, keeping telescope halls within 3 °C overnight.
Design challenges
Remote site with no grid, water or skilled labour nearby.
Design solutions
Earth is dug and rammed on site by a local crew trained during construction.
03Image sequence
04Conceptual plans
Interactive plan
Drag to pan. Use the buttons to zoom. Rooms can be selected with touch, mouse or keyboard.
Conceptual visualization — not an approved construction document.
Levels
Select a room to see its notes.
Legend
- Living
- Service
- Circulation
- Outdoor
Rooms
05Material palette
Recycled stone
Ground, honed
Weathered steel
Pre-patinated
Board-formed concrete
Raw, unsealed
06Project in numbers
- 1850 m²
- Area
- 30 months
- Duration
- 20
- Guest rooms
- 0 lux
- Light spill beyond the building
- 3 °C
- Overnight temperature drift
07Design team
Fictional studio. All content is illustrative demo material.
Noor Haddad
Design Director
Mateo Ruiz
Head of Material Research
Jonas Lindqvist
Technical Director
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