RMJM Selected to Design More Than 2 Million Square Feet for Libyan Universities

BANI WALID, Libya — The global education studio of Princeton, N.J.-based architecture firm RMJM will be leading the design of two large-scale educational projects in Libya, making it the first U.S. architectural firm to work there in several years.

Officials with Libya’s Organisation (sic) for the Development of Administrative Centres selected the firm to design two new college campuses in Libya, including one at 7th of October University in Bani Walid and one at Al Asmariya University in Zliten.

The projects are part of a major expansion of higher education facilities implemented by the nation’s Ministry of Education.

The Bani Walid project includes construction of a 123-acre campus that will serve as a satellite branch of the main 7th of October University in Misurata. The 1.8 million-square-foot campus will include academic facilities, a mosque, student center, library, athletic facilities and housing for faculty and a projected 3,200 students.

The campus master plan will feature a compact layout based on the formation of the desert rose, a naturally occurring silica crystal with a compact, rosette shape, officials say.

Planning was also inspired by the nearby town of Ghadames, which features sunken courtyards that create natural cooling and help irrigate the perimeter oasis. Architects plan to incorporate sustainable building technologies and systems as the design progresses.

Construction is scheduled to start in 2009, with an opening date of 2010. When it opens, the new campus will offer academic programs in language, business, education and medical technology.

Al Asmariya University, located 100 miles east of the nation’s capital on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, will receive a new 222-acre campus about 6 miles outside Zliten.

The first phase of the project is scheduled to begin in 2009 and will include about 1 million square feet of construction. Architects are working on the design of the first phase, which will include a mosque, library, student center and administration building, lecture theaters and common spaces for students and faculty.

Construction of the campus is expected to take three years, officials say. Upon completion, the multi-phased project will provide space for 4,600 students and offer academic programs in Arabic, law, Islam and religious studies, finance, economics, medicine and graduate studies.