Top architect Frida Escobedo lands contract to design Qatar ministry HQ

05/12/2025 02:54 AST

Leading architect Frida Escobedo, the founder and principal of the Mexico City and New York-based Frida Escobedo Studio, has been awarded the contract to design the new headquarters for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Created to establish a more visible civic presence for the nation's diplomatic service and offer the public unprecedented access to the Ministry complex, the project will transform a prominent section of the city's iconic Corniche.

Qatari authorities today (December 4) announced that it is dedicating a key site on Doha's waterfront for the new headquarters.

Rising beside the waters of Doha Bay, the 70,000 sq m complex will be a combination of new construction and the adaptive reuse of a beloved historic structure at the site, set within an abundantly landscaped environment.

The initiation of the plan to create the new complex, aims at making this building the first major one to be constructed in decades in the coastal area that curves northward from Qatar's seat of government, the Amiri Diwan.

To enhance the visibility of the Ministry's mission of mediation, conflict resolution, and cultural diplomacy, the 1985 General Post Office-known for its distinctive modernist 'pigeonholes'-will be assimilated into the complex. This major public building will be preserved and adapted in part as a space for public programming associated with the Ministry's role in cultural diplomacy.

Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, supervised the competition in her role as Chairperson of Qatar Blueprint, a comprehensive initiative to guide development across the nation in cooperation with public entities and the private sector.

Frida Escobedo Studio was selected along with Buro Happold engineers and Studio Zewde landscape designers out of an initial group of 40 invited architectural teams and a shortlist of seven.

In keeping with the mission of the Ministry, the selection process was fully international, with architects from every continent invited to participate.

The competition was organised and managed by Malcolm Reading Consultants on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Qatar Museums.

Frida Escobedo won the contract after a tough international competition thanks to its human-scaled and courtyard-centered design.

Lauding the royal gesture from Qatari Amir, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said the new ministry headquarters that will be built, will represent an icon for the nation's diplomacy, and a source of pride for its people through reflecting Qatar's leading global role in diplomatic negotiations and fostering productive international dialogue and cooperation.

Creation of the new Ministry headquarters will include a public cultural component in the repurposed General Post Office. The project advances Qatar Blueprint's goals for urban and architectural planning, heritage preservation, adaptive reuse initiatives, and excellence in architectural design.

Sheikha Al Mayassa, which commending Frida Escobedo, a major international talent, for her winning design, said: "It furthers our commitment to heritage preservation through sustainability and adaptive reuse while giving Qatar its next architectural masterpiece."

"Escobedo's human-scaled and courtyard-centered design envisions the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs complex in Doha as a rhythmic composition of volumes that build on one another, creating a threshold between Qatar's heritage and its global future," she stated.

"Gently terracing northward, the new construction will preserve sightlines of the iconic General Post Office, incorporating elements into its façade as part of a vital adaptive reuse endeavor, while visually anchoring the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the site's history," noted Sheikha Al Mayassa.

"The building's exterior will form an enveloping structure composed of vertical pillars that balance shade, privacy and transparency, and an inviting interior will feature a series of green patios designed for reflection, gathering, and art," she said.

This dialogue between architecture and landscape will extend into the General Post Office, whose ground floor will be transformed into an exhibition space that transitions into a covered garden.

Rooted in the nation's ongoing investment in diplomacy, art, and architecture, the project reaffirms Qatar's role both as a cultural anchor for Doha and a symbolic gateway to the world, she added.

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