Romance of the rose

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Model of the Massar Children’s Discovery Centre.

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Inside the centre.

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Unfolding the building.

Henning Larsen Architects and Buro Happold draw on Syria's glittering cultural past to build an even brighter future.

Few flowers carry as much symbolism as the rose. Depending on its colour, it's the flower of love, or friendship, or innocence, or grace. For the city of Damascus, the rose holds a special significance.

Of the many types of rose in the world, the Damask (or Damascus Rose) is one of the most important. "The Damascus rose is very unique and special, it has special resonance for the Syrians," says associate and lead architect Anne-Marie Galmstrup.

The Damask Rose now takes on a new form, as part of the 15,000m² Massar Children's Discovery Centre.

Massar is non-profit organisation, aiming to use non-formal learning techniques to held build a better future for Syrian children.

The new building in Damascus will effectively act as a headquarters for the organisation, as well as provide a unique space for children to learn and play. "It's about providing an education and showing that you're able to learn through play," explains Galmstrup.

Key to creating this environment was creating large open spaces within the building where children could interact with each other.

"The centre of the building is very important because this is about creating a space for kids to share knowledge and develop new ideas, so they have to have this reference point where they can talk and have a dialogue, and see things from a different perspective," explains Galmstrup

Initially, Henning Larsen Architects considered the idea of a large roof with a façade shell. "Then we looked at the rose and started to take inspiration from plant structures and nature," says Galmstup.

"What the shell is doing-the ‘petals'-is forming a shield, but it also allows light into the building between the petals."

Think of the children

As the name suggests, the Children's Discovery Centre will cater primarily for young people. "75% of who will occupy this building will be kids under 15 years of age, so we've designed with that in mind," says Galmstup.

The centre of the building forms an orientation space, while between the petals are places for exhibitions and classrooms. The building has also been kept deliberately simple to navigate.

"Towards the central courtyard, there are a lot of balconies and rafts where kids can look at each other. You can always visually connect to the other parts of the exhibition. You're not really getting lost," explains Galmstrup.

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