Designing a commercial and entertainment center with a cultural souk experience, by achieving sustainable development through ensuring thermal comfort and cultural preservation in arid regions

Abstract

In order to effectively address the spatial needs and propose of innovative green solutions that align with the societal dynamics of Laghouat, an arid city in Algeria, a comprehensive research has been undertaken. A comprehensive examination of the various factors influ encing energy optimization in building design, including everything from the surrounding environment to the intricate details of the building envelope in order to develop new and suitable solutions that cater to the unique socio-cultural context of Laghouat, while promot ing sustainable environmentally responsive design that is resilient to the arid zone. Based on the typo-morphological and sensorial approach enhanced with questionnaires and interviews along with a SWOT analysis, gave us the theme of the project: sustainable com mercial and entertainment center with souk experience in Laghouat. The thematic research was therefore divided into 3 sections: the souk, commercial and entertainment center, and urban park. The project of the integrated souk with commercial and entertainment spaces was based on the linear spatial organization of the traditional souk experience that encompasses local culture and practices creating a heritage ambiance that seeks to rejuvenate the city’s unique identity, particularly the “Kser,” by honoring its history, preserving its authenticity, and incor porating its distinct architecture and urban characteristics into various sensorial experienc es within a sustainable environment that avoids the urban heat island effect. An urban park was added to strengthen this approach to leverage the oasis’s micro-climate effects. At the end, and to refine our design in terms of sustainability responses, we used several softwares, like Meteonorm, climate consultant, Envi-met and DesignBuilder.