LAU inaugurates
Gezairi Building

Home to School of Architecture and Design,

Part of cost donated by Mona Bawarshi

The Lebanese American University (LAU) has inaugurated the Gezairi Building which will house its School of Architecture and Design (SArD).

The building has been named after Abdeslam Bouazza El Djazairi, founder of Gezairi Transport, whose daughter, Mona Bawarshi, has donated part of the building’s cost.

This is the most recent and most important addition to the LAU Beirut campus, said Michel Mawad, President of LAU.

The Gezairi Building, which was used as a school, was purchased by LAU in 2012 and was subject to a major renovation project that was completed in November 2021.

The building, which is adjacent to the LAU campus, is located in Sadat Street, Hamra. It has a built-up area of nearly 19,000 square meters. It includes studios, smart classrooms, and academic labs for different specialties including fine arts (painting, sculpture, and printmaking), fashion design, graphic design, interior design, and architecture. The building also encompasses computer labs, faculty and staff offices, lecture halls, conference rooms, and multipurpose rooms, in addition to a courtyard, cafeteria, and parking spaces.

The building’s modern efficient design and environmentally-friendly engineering enable it to achieve 20 percent in energy savings, 30 percent in water savings, and 26 percent less embodied energy in materials.

SArD has been accredited by the American National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) and the National Association of Schools of Arts and Design (NASAD).