Qatar selects Architect Frida Escobedo to design a new headquarters complex for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Doha, Qatar: The State of Qatar today announced that it is dedicating a key site on Doha s waterfront to a new headquarters for the Ministry of Foreig...

Doha, Qatar: The State of Qatar today announced that it is dedicating a key site on Doha's waterfront to a new headquarters for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is known globally for its mediating role.

Created to establish a more visible civic presence for the nation's diplomatic service and offer the public unprecedented access to the Ministry complex, the project will transform a prominent section of the city's iconic Corniche.

Through an invited international competition, the commission to design the headquarters has been awarded to architect Frida Escobedo, founder and principal of the Mexico City and New York-based Frida Escobedo Studio.

Rising beside the waters of Doha Bay, the 70,000 square meter (750,000 square foot) complex will be a combination of new construction and the adaptive reuse of a beloved historic structure at the site, set within an abundantly landscaped environment.

The initiation of the plan to create the new complex, aims at making this building the first major one to be constructed in decades in the coastal area that curves northward from Qatar's seat of government, the Amiri Diwan. To enhance the visibility of the Ministry's mission of mediation, conflict resolution, and cultural diplomacy, the 1985 General Post Office-known for its distinctive modernist 'pigeonholes'-will be assimilated into the complex. This major public building will be preserved and adapted in part as a space for public programming associated with the Ministry's role in cultural diplomacy.