01
The brief
West Gate Valley is a semi-gated residential compound in Syria, and NoVi's commission was its architecture and master plan. The plan distributes four land uses across the site: a residential zone of 12-storey towers, a hotel of 20 floors, a commercial zone along the Golden Boulevard of two to six floors, and a network of green spaces and water that runs between them.
NoVi's planning studies set out how the compound works day to day: main and secondary roads and the project entrances, pedestrian routes, underground parking for the residential towers and for the hotel, surface parking for the boulevard's shops, and gardens, water features, walking and jogging trails, and sports and recreational facilities. A mosque with its own gardens completes the plan.
02
The challenge
A semi-gated compound has to be two things at once: a calm, secure neighbourhood for the families who live in its towers, and a destination that brings visitors to its hotel, shops and cafés. If the two mix carelessly, residents lose their privacy and the commercial heart loses its life. Traffic, parking and service access decide much of that balance long before any façade is drawn.
Scale adds a second question. Dozens of towers can easily read as a wall of repeated blocks; they need open space, water and shade between them to feel like a place, and a landmark that gives the whole compound an identity from afar.
03
Our approach
The plan answers with a clear spine. The Golden Boulevard runs through the centre of the compound as a pedestrian promenade with a water channel, trees and café terraces, lined by low-rise shops and restaurants, and it ends at the hotel, whose twin towers, joined at the top by a sky bridge, close the axis and mark the compound on the skyline.
The residential towers are grouped in rings on either side of the boulevard, each ring wrapped around its own gardens, lakes and walking trails, with parking taken underground so that the ground belongs to people rather than cars. Separate road loops, entrances and parking for homes, hotel and retail keep each use working on its own terms.
