BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The fundamental objective is the future O.I.C. Headquarters in Jeddah realizing impressive premises which is both modern and reflective of Islamic architecture constructed in a manner that has a distant visibility profile and becomes an important landmark of Jeddah.

The Complex will be situated on a plot in the district between the Gate of Makkah al Mukkaramah to the King Abdul Aziz Palace. The complex should be a catalyst for urban regeneration.

The City of Jeddah has structured the general development of the O.I.C. headquarters as the first stage of the large scale “the Cultural Axes” development project of the Jeddah’s district between the Gate of Makkah al Mukkaramah to the King Abdul Aziz Palace according to the following successive actions that may be partially simultaneous:

• As well as offering favourable conditions in terms of area and volume, the optimum location accessibility and provision of good transport connections, should be taken into account.
  o The intention of this concept is to create an appropriate atmosphere for work and reflection, a necessary requisite for all those involved in the O.I.C. headquarters processes.
   

• However, in order for the stated distribution of the buildings within the area to be operative, a powerful network of services to appropriately interconnect them must be considered to facilitate the controlled transit of staff members, resources, security vehicles and facilities of any nature. The organization of the building complex area and the multi-leveled organizational structure is considered of high importance and, as such, the competition participants must focus on designs for both.
   

• In addition, it will be essential to comply with all the necessary security requirements that a complex of this kind demands, both with regard to the daily use of its premises by members and visitors (which will affect the type of security systems in terms of access, materials to be used in public and work areas, costs of maintaining the Headquarters, etc.), as well as the security of the complex perimeter and interior.