Msheireb Metro station and gift shop at National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ)
Doha: The National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) gift shop has added another feather to its cap winning the prestigious Prix Versailles 2020 in the Shops and Stores category.
Msheireb Metro Station, on the other hand, was awarded Special Prize Interior in the Passenger Stations category of the Prix.
Qatar was the only country in the Middle East which won awards at the 2020 World Finale of the Prix in which 24 projects from around the world were honoured, all of which had embraced sustainable approach.
Prix Versailles is world architecture and design award created in 2015 to promote better interaction between cultural and economic domains which acknowledges achievements in various forms of architecture.
The Prix has eight categories namely Airports, Campuses, Passenger Stations, Sports, Shops & Stores, Shopping Malls, Hotels, and Restaurants.
A total of 94 projects, involving 38 countries and representing less than 1% of the total new projects reviewed in the early stages, were selected to participate in the World Finale for 2020.
“What’s better than to end 2020 with great news! Two projects from Qatar have won at the World @ PrixVersailles 2020, The National Museum of Qatar Gift Shop @NMoQatar (Prix Versailles 2020 - Shops & Stores) and the Msheireb Metro Station @grc_official (Special Prize Interior - Passenger Stations),” Qatar Museums Chairperson H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani tweeted on Thursday.
Designed by Koichi Takada Architects, NMoQ gift shop stands out for its breathtaking design inspired by Dahl Al Misfir (Qatar’s “Cave of Light”) which is a beautiful underground sanctuary formed largely from fibrous gypsum crystals that give off a faint, moon-like, phosphorescent glow.
Since its opening in 2019, the gift shop comprising a main gift shop and a children’s gift shop has already won a string of international awards in various categories including retail and interior design in countries such as the US, the UK and Australia.
Msheireb Metro Station is the largest among the 37 metro stations whose design inspired by Caravanserais is a contemporary reinterpretation of vaulted spaces incorporating traditional Qatari architecture and ornamentation.
It features an extravagant entrance shelter as a landmark way finding for locals and tourists alike.
A strong visual connection between entrance and concourse enables a smooth passenger experience and clear direction throughout the station.
