Location: Kuwait City, Kuwait.

Architect: Pace.

The Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has a rich history in the oil industry, and the establishment of the Kuwait International Petroleum Research Centre (KIPRC) is a testament to its commitment to technology, innovation, and discovery. The KIPRC is a 21st-century research facility that embodies the values and aspirations of KOC, creating an unparalleled environment for work, research, and collaboration. The design of the KIPRC is rooted in the physical landscape of Kuwait, with a series of earth berms rising from the desert floor and echoing in the roof profile of the buildings. The architecture and landscape ascend in a unified gesture to frame the symbolic heart of the campus: a web of interconnected collaborative spaces. The KIPRC is concerned with the exploration, extraction, and refinement of hydrocarbon resources from beneath the earth’s surface. The proposal celebrates the connection between the nation of Kuwait and the oil industry that it has cultivated. The design of the KIPRC is both futuristic and forward-thinking, but ultimately rooted in the land from which it is born. The concept is engineered to leverage spaces that facilitate and provoke the types of human interaction that lead to problem-solving and innovative collaboration. The campus is considered a complex and sophisticated ecosystem where lab researchers and scientists are routinely advancing the discipline through a range of activities. The overriding goal of the KIPRC is to cultivate innovation, and architecture has a profound impact on how people interact and exchange ideas.