The plan provides for an underground parking garage, designed to integrate with the square above it. The space allows for an uninterrupted pedestrian route from the southern of the square to the remains of the Petit Serail at its northern edge. Cross block routes connect important sites and districts either side of the axis to one another across the public space of Martyrs' Square.Īt the center of the section is Martyrs' Square, an active public space anchored by the Statue of the Martyrs'. Martyrs' Square is connected to the sea visually along an unobstructed view corridor, and physically via a pedestrian route leading to the water's edge and connecting Beirut's present to its ancient past. The alignment treated as a coherent linear public space, provides important physical and visual connections to the surrounding context. In 2012, Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW, Paris) has completed an urban design study for this axis. It also offered a symbolic organization of the space along the axis with an intelligent and varied array of commercial, retail, residential and civic structures consolidating urban field around the square and axis. Their scheme defined four sections, each being responsive and attuned to the characteristics of the corresponding context. Antonis Noukakis and Partners Architects (Greece) were the competition winners. In June 2004, Solidere launched an international design competition on Martyrs’ Square grand axis. It includes important symbolic sites: Garden of Forgiveness, Mohamad Al Amin Mosque, St George Maronite Cathedral, PM Rafic Hariri gravesite, Martyrs’ Square itself as well as the archeological area around the ancient Tell. Sector H follows the south-to-north axis formed by Bechara El Khoury and Damascus streets, to reach the Beirut Port first basin.