Unica armchairs for the futuristic Kuwait University campus awarded the prestigious Innovation & Sustainability Award by the AIA
The seats, an expression of adaptability and comfort, furnished and made functional four auditoriums of the College of Business and the College of Life Sciences in the university district near Kuwait City
Ardiya, not far from Kuwait City. This is where a state-of-the-art university district, initiated by the Sabah Al-Salem University, was born. Within it rise the award-winning architecture of CambridgeSeven (USA) and Gulf Consult (Kuwait), giving life to the College of Business and the College of Life Sciences, the two departments respectively dedicated to the education of future managers and life science experts. The work of the two architecture firms was recognised by the American Institute of Architects for the “functional, aesthetic and sustainable design” as well as for the approach used, which responds to climate requirements through solutions “in symbiosis with the local culture”.
The architecture of the College of Life Sciences reinterprets the Arabian building tradition and in particular the iconic mashrabiya and wind towers to give shape, respectively, to the façade designed using diamond shapes of perforated metal in the same colour as the desert and to the interior atria, which not only promote cooling thanks to the chimney effect, but also become meeting places par excellence, designed to promote collaboration between students, favouring informal learning and social interaction.
The Unica armchairs, an expression of adaptability and comfort, furnished the spaces of the two “Colleges” and made them functional with over 1,200 seats. In the four auditoriums, one of which has two levels, the seats were arranged in straight or curved rows with a 60 or 61 cm spacing, according to needs. Selected in the low-back version with a tip-up foldaway writing tablet, the seats are upholstered in genuine leather (dark red or grey, depending on the environment) and equipped with seat and row numbering. The armchairs also use solid bamboo wood to make up the armrests, the sides at the beginning and end of the rows, and the low casings that form the backs. The central sides are also padded and upholstered in genuine leather like the seats and backrests.
Project: Sabah Al-Salem University College of Business & College of Life Sciences
Location: Ardiya, Kuwait
Architect: CambridgeSeven, Gulf Consult
Client: Kuwait University
General Contractor: SINOHYDRO Corp. Ltd., Al-Hani Construction and Trading Co
Year: 2020
Supply LAMM: 1219 Unica armchairs
Photographer: Mohammad Taqi