Perched on John Kennedy Street (formerly Avenue Perthuis) the Alamuddin Building – which houses the offices of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences – stands as a quiet observer of history, its walls echoing the stories of a city shaped by decades of transformations and turmoil. Many years ago, the tramway passed through that part of the street where the Alamuddin Building stood and was locally known as Mhattet Graham or Graham Station. This and other historical details were generously provided to the ACSS by the building’s current owners, Hana and Noura Alamuddin.

The Alamuddin building is a short walk from the American University of Beirut (AUB) on Bliss Street. The Art Deco building was originally owned by the Beiruti Sinno family, who commissioned architect Michel Franco and structural engineer Vahan Aghadjanian to construct it in the early 1940s. The result was a five-floor edifice reflecting Beirut’s cultural and historical identity of the time. The flats were based on the central hall home design popularized in the mid-nineteenth century; it catered to the emerging urban middle class that developed as a result of the booming silk economy and Beirut’s rising political importance within the Ottoman Empire. Newly constructed buildings in the middle of the 20th century had high ceilings for better ventilation and circulation of air, much needed for the hot and humid summers of the Mediterranean. They were also known for their concrete and terrazzo tiles. Before the 40s, local constructions used elaborate ornamental tiles known locally as sijjed [carpet].

In 1957, the first two floors, where the ACSS offices are currently located, were rented out as office space to the Near East Resources company where Mr. Alamuddin, Hana and Noura’s father, used to work.  The division of buildings for commercial and residential purposes was a typical practice at the time. Two Beiruti Jewish families, Taoutah and Attiyeh, lived on the third and fourth floors, and an American couple occupied the fifth floor (the last floor at the time). It was that fifth floor that the Alamuddin family rented later on as their family home.

From their balconies, residents of the Alamuddin building have been witness to several historical events. “We could watch demonstrations in support of Palestine from the barranda (as shown in the photograph to the right) and it was the same in 1967 when Abdel Nasser stepped down. I remember being able to see everything from the terrace, the port, the bay of Jounieh, the mountains, and Independence Day parades”, says Noura.

When the ACSS moved into the building in 2016, the staff fell in love with the space, the high ceilings, and the charming authentic terrazzo tiles. ACSS was keen to preserve its original character, so it introduced minimal modifications to re-structure and partition the wide spaces and transform them into offices that now accommodate close to 20 staff members and consultants. The first floor has differently sized meeting rooms fit for convening and training purposes and ready to receive guests from ACSS’s ever-expanding network.

At this critical juncture, where political uncertainty intertwines with enduring hope, the Alamuddin Building stands as both a repository of memory and a beacon for the future—a tangible reminder of Beirut’s resilience, and its enduring role as a crossroads for ideas, cultures, and change. Heritage buildings are key to understanding and living in a city, and the Alamuddin Building is no exception. It tells numerous stories about the city and its historical urban expansion—AUB, the tramway, the protests, the basket pulley system, and most importantly the Ras Beiruti community that ACSS is now part of.