SOM: ali al sabah military academy, kuwait city

the ali al sabah military academy in kuwait city by SOM

SOM has designed the ali al sabah military academy in kuwait city. the 2.2 million square foot campus is a largely self-sufficient facility that serves as the primary educational institution for cadets preparing to become kuwaiti military officers. the program includes three cadet dormitories, two staff dormitories, and an officer’s residence, as well as training and academic buildings. a parade ground, athletic stadium, and helipad are among the primary exterior program spaces.

the site for the kuwait military academy is a 1.5 square mile section of the kuwaiti desert to the northwest of kuwait city. located along abdaly road, the arterial connection to the iraqi border, at the base of a major topographic ridge, the site is comprised primarily of sand, with little vegetation.

the master plan employs strategies drawn from the traditional urban vernacular of the region – such as physical density, solar shading, wind protection, and integrated landscape components – to address the extreme desert climate conditions of the site. the resulting campus structure and surrounding landscape suggest a pattern for sustainable urban growth.

perforated canopies project from and span between building structures

since kuwait city is the hottest city on earth, with shaded temperatures regularly exceeding 120 degrees fahrenheit, solar control is a critical issue. perforated canopies project from and span between building structures, providing shade for all building facades and creating a continuous shaded environment at ground level.

outdoor spaces and courtyards

the plan is organized into five programmatic bands – administration, assembly, cadet life, athletics, and services – whose functional adjacency produces a series of discrete outdoor spaces and courtyards. the bands roughly follow the natural contours of the site, suggesting hierarchies of use and minimizing excavation.

an apron of vegetation shelterbelts

an apron of vegetation shelterbelts works with the canopy structure to control windborne sand infiltration and drifting, and to allow the campus to function during the region’s frequent sandstorms.