Hadid’s Baghdad homecoming

Who else could Central Bank of Iraq have commissioned for their headquarters but Zaha Hadid? In her birthplace Baghdad, on the banks of the great Tigris river inspiring her signature fluid lines, it is a 170m tower rising over a vast podium that delivers 90,000 square meters of interior. Designed by Hadid (1950–2016) in 2011, the building is nearing completion.

The structure has a quality of lightness, elegance and fluidity at the same time declaring confidence and vision that speaks of stability, solidity and sustainability fundamental to banking. 

Working with the Zaha Hadid Architects, we picked up the theme of honouring the heritage of Hadid and Iraq. 

In the light-filled public interior we combine glass and enamel in an innovative technique that etches the reverse of the glass cladding and fills the void with enamel. The technique delivers a beautiful depth, density of colour and clarity. Glass and enamel were both first developed in Mesopotamia thousands of years before it became known as modern day Iraq. It fits appropriately.

We chose a debossed approach for the building exterior identification denoting an appropriate air of stature and permanence. 

It is a remarkable project that we are enormously proud to have worked on.

Photos and renders with courtesy @ Zaha Hadid Architects zaha-hadid.com