The concept for Al Khan museums comes from the research result of  Caravanserai, a typology known as enclosed courtyard type of hotel building that poped up along ancient Silk Road. The project is located on historical remains of Caravanserai, along northwest coast of Sharjah, UAE. The new museum will be adding another focal point on the cultural route of this historically super rich city.

The museum is composed of vertical and horizontal walls in the shape of a pyramid, where spaces of different heights are formed in pockets and designed as exhibition halls, offices, landscape, service spaces, and public passage that circulate the surroundings. Exhibitions are set for permanent as well as temporary purposes, and categorized as archaeological museum, collection museum and foundation collection. The museum is equipped also with auditorium, storage, workshops, restaurants and gift shops. The Caravanserai remaining on site are conserved to the maximum extent, each sits comfortably in the pockets and re-used as per their features to be part of the exhibitions.

Each “pocket” is a unique space, differentiates from scale, shape, ways of presentation to the light wells, just as what’s described in Forrest Gump, “ Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what’s the next.”   

Collaboration work with OMA team,                         Image courtesy of OMA