Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa

Commission date February 1977
Design period 12 weeks
Completion/inauguration 1980
Classification Commercial (COM)

Owner(s)/patron(s)
Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa
Architect / Landscape Designers
Abdelmoneim Mustafa Architect
Consulting Engineers
Siddig Abdel Wahab (structural)
F N Mikles and Lazzar (air conditioning consultants)

The planning, design, and supervision for the construction of the Headquarters of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa was detailed in a letter dated 21st December 1976 from the office of Abdelmoneim Mustafa. Discussions ensued between Mustafa’s office and the Bank to develop a design brief and to align the design with the available budget. This culminated in a contract signed on 7th February 1977 for the preparation of preliminary drawings. The project’s brief requested the design of a 4200 sqm centrally air-conditioned office block with five departments of varying sizes and a basement, with the potential for future expansion. The office units varied in size in multiples of 16 sqm. A club and residential premises totalling 600 sqm were also required.

The building’s distinct façade is characterised by its alcoves that were constructed using precast concrete panels, which envelop a reinforced concrete column and slab structure. The main bank building is a five-storey block that is almost square in plan. The height is cohesive with its location in downtown Khartoum, and the number of storeys aligns with the number of departments required by the Bank. The clubhouse is a smaller two-storey building on a diagonal grid, with a lounge on the ground floor and bedrooms above. The site is a walled campus, trapezoidal in shape, with the main bank HQ building as well as the club house sitting within gardens and a parking lot. Long views of the main building are available from the adjacent Saad Eldin Fawzi Avenue which terminates at the junction with Mahatta Ring Road where the site is located. The southern end provides a pocket of space suitable for the club house and swimming pool.

The main entrance is to the north on Sayed Abdelrahman Avenue which has slower traffic and more visitor parking. A ceremonial entrance is available to the south for visits from special dignitaries. The main bank building has been extended. The original design had allowed space for future expansion to the east, but this extension was created to the west. The façade was simultaneously changed from a rich brown to the cream noted above.

The club house has also been extended. George Arbid writes: “The Department of Architecture at the University of Khartoum, founded in 1957 one year after independence, marked the architectural landscape in Sudan. The first generation of architects graduated in 1961, coinciding with the return of those who went for education abroad such as Abdel Moneim Mustafa. This favourable situation, along with a period of stability, gave birth to a local architectural style that came to be known as the “Khartoum school”. The headquarters of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa is a powerful example of the work of this cohort, committed to modern principles of technical performance and adaptation to the climatic conditions of the region.

The building has a clear logic in its construction. A structural grid of columns and slabs hosts a cladding of concrete panels suspended at a distance to allow side lighting and ventilation to the offices. At the core of the building, a void runs at full height providing natural light and inviting passive ventilation.” The building today retains much of its original form and features. Both the main bank building and the clubhouse sit within the walled trapezoidal site, with the original main and ceremonial entrances retained. Both buildings have been extended with mixed success in sensitivity to the original design.

The main bank building is a five-storey block that is almost square in plan. This reduces its surface area exposed to the sun and thus minimizes the solar gain and penetration, making it easier to cool. A central light well extends daylight into the middle of the plan while minimising solar gain.

Externally the building is characterised by a grid of projecting alcoves aligned with cellular office spaces behind. Glazing is only provided to the sides of the offices and thus only indirect light permeates to the interior. The panels are a rich brown colour harmonising with the desert landscape.

The original use as the headquarters of the Bank has persisted. The site and its buildings are well-used and well-maintained both internally and externally. The extension to the main bank building and the renovation of its façade are harmonious and well-executed but, crucially, have changed the colour of the concrete panelling from its distinctive and weather-compatible rich brown to a generic and characterless cream. The extension itself has a curtain walled north façade which is entirely in contradiction to the principles of shading and filtered light of the original building. The clubhouse has also been extended and the outdoor swimming pool is no more.

The buildings occupy a small area of the site and there is potential for more additions and alterations, although no future plans are openly in development. The design of the bank utilises modern construction methods such as a reinforced concrete structure, and more importantly, one of the first uses of precast concrete panels in Sudan in its façade. The form of the building contributes heavily to the thermal comfort of the interior and is an example of passive technology.

The building and the establishment of the bank signifies the level of Arab cooperation at the time and coincided with the founding of several other institutions. Sudan was chosen as the headquarters for this bank clearly due to its geographical and cultural location overlapping the Arab and the ‘sub-Saharan’ worlds. BADEA is an archetypal example of what became known as the ‘Khartoum School’ variant of regional modernism, characterised by a sensitivity to climate demonstrated through form and material properties. It is recognised for its stark rejection of any historical motifs (unlike, the AAAID or the Friendship Hall), although some have likened its geometric form and the shadows it casts to the traditional rectilinear courtyard houses in the city.

Rapporteur
Hadeel Mohamed and Mohieldin Gamal

Relevant Archives
Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA)

Resources
Esra Akcan. ‘Decolonize or Redistribute? Abdel Moneim Mustafa and Mid-Century Modernism in Sudan’, The Canadian Centre for Architecture. Retrieved from:
www.cca.qc.ca/en/articles/85227/decolonize-or-redistribute-abdel-moneim-mustafa-and-mid-century-modernism-in-sudan
Online commons. Retrieved from: www.commons.wikimedia.org