KAPSARC is a non-profit institution where international experts come to develop strategies to reduce the environmental impact and costs of energy supply. The LEED Platinum-certified campus incorporates the Energy Knowledge Centre, the Energy Computer Centre, a Conference Centre with exhibition hall and auditorium, a 100,000-volume-capacity Research Library,

and the Musalla for prayer/contemplation. Emerging from the desert, its hexagonal prismatic honeycomb structures use the least material to create a lattice of cells within a given volume, and offer modular flexibility. They gain in height towards the south, west and east to shield internal spaces from direct sunlight. Sheltered courtyards with ‘wind-catchers’ integrated in their

roof profiles bring in softened daylight and cool northerly winds.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture