NAVEX - National Maritime Museum and Water Terminal

Project idea

Reinterpreting Egypt's maritime identity by transforming an abandoned waterfront into a cultural interface where architecture and public life intersect, creating immersive spatial experiences that reconnect the city with the Nile.

Project description

The project reinterprets Egypt's maritime identity by transforming the abandoned waterfront at Nile Corniche, El-Warrak, Giza into a cultural interface. The design reconnects the city with the Nile by restoring public access, reactivating underutilized land, and integrating existing maritime elements including abandoned structures into a contemporary architectural system. The program includes a National Maritime Museum with ancient Egyptian and modern era displays, a cruise and ferry water terminal, a main entrance building with VIP accommodation, restaurants, and lounges, workshops and maker spaces, and a public promenade. The studio investigates how architecture can revive and reinterpret maritime identity through spatial systems that reconnect culture, movement and the urban waterfront. Visual connection and framing between significant buildings, bridge studies, and careful site analysis of the strategic waterfront location inform the design approach.

Technical information

Total built up area: 73,500 m². Main Entrance Building built up area: 6,815 m². Cruise & Ferry Terminal built up area: 8,067 m². National Maritime Museum built up area: 50,386 m². Workshops & Maker Spaces built up area: 2,879 m². Public Promenade built up area: 7,359 m². The program distribution is approximately 63.8% museum complex, 12.2% cruise & ferry terminal, 10.5% main entrance building, 9.8% public plaza and promenade, and 5.0% workshop/makers spaces. The site is located on a strategic waterfront site linking city and Nile near El Warrak Island, with proximity to Rod Al-Farag Axis Bridge and Imbaba Bridge.

Documentation

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