الأنار · Al-Anar — the Pomegranate, the southern village.
A 124-hectare red-tile pomegranate-village on the corridor's southern band at 924 metres. Structured around a civic library, the Al-Bilal hospital wing, a Children's Reading Garden, an Anar market spine, and BRT-served working streets. The corridor's first sloped-roof Levantine village — clay tile over sandstone over olive grove.
At 924 metres, on the corridor's southern band south-west of Damascus, Anar Quarter sits on a low rise where the agricultural ribbon meets the residential edge. The site looks out across pomegranate and olive groves to the south, and back toward Durra (the Pearl) on the higher ridge to the north-west. The architectural register changes here — clay-tile pitched roofs, sandstone bases, arched arcades. The corridor's only sloped-roof masterplan; its first Levantine-village expression.
الأنار, al-Anar, means the pomegranate — the orchard fruit that has carried Damascus through ten centuries of trade. The wayfinding signage, the pharmacy brand on the market spine, the children's reading garden, the harvest baskets at every café terrace — all carry the pomegranate as the masterplan's visual signature. The quarter is named for its orchard and its market grammar.
The site is reached from the corridor expressway through a tree-lined approach road. The civic library sits at the head of a descending public stair — the masterplan's hero gesture. From there the boulevard runs ~600 metres south to the hospital wing and ~400 metres east through the Anar market arcade to the children's garden and the working district edge.
Anar answers a softer question the corridor has been carrying since Phase A: where is the masterplan that reads as a village? Not a quarter, not a district, not a campus — a village in the southern band of the corridor, with the agricultural ribbon meeting the residential fabric at every street section. The answer is in the architecture: pitched terracotta roofs, brick chimneys, sandstone arches at the ground floor, mashrabiya at the upper, olive trees in the courtyards, pomegranates at the market.
The civic centrepiece is the library — a single brass-trimmed iwan gate over a wide public stair, with the reading rooms behind. The library descends across three terraces; the lowest reads back toward the market spine and the pomegranate orchards beyond. Programmatically, the library carries reference, children's reading, and a small lecture room.
The brand does not say "affordable housing village". It says "الأنار" — the Pomegranate. The discipline is to make 124 hectares of working-village programme read as one continuous tile roof, set into one continuous orchard, in one continuous Damascene grammar.
Each anchor sits on a named threshold along the two spines. Together they carry the working week of a 10,800-person village.
A 1,800 m² civic library at the head of the public stair. Brass-trimmed iwan gate, three terraced reading rooms, a small lecture hall, and a reference and archive wing. Open dawn to ten.
A 12,000 m² community hospital wing at the southern edge — pomegranate-orchard frontage, day surgery, maternity, paediatric and elder-care wings, with the Anar pharmacy as the gateway block.
A 420-metre east-west market spine through the centre of the village. Anar pharmacy and grocery, bakery, café terraces, harvest stalls. Active arcade ground floor; residential above.
A 4-hectare reading garden at the centre of the village. Pergola, herb beds, harvest seating, the children's reading wing, an after-school study room. The masterplan's quietest public room.
A 2,400 m² quarter mosque with courtyard and minaret, sized for the village population. Adjacent to the civic library; opens onto the public stair on Fridays.
A 6-hectare working district on the eastern boundary — light maker workshops, last-mile logistics, a small civic depot. Pomegranate orchard buffers the residential edge.
Residential-heavy by design. Community and civic programme carries the hospital, library, market arcade, mosque, schools, and the working-district edge.
Anar is the corridor's village-scale masterplan. Programme is residential-led at 70 percent of envelope GFA; the 30 percent community share carries the six anchors (library, hospital, market, reading garden, mosque, makers' edge) and the secondary education campus.
| Use | % of envelope | GFA | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential | 70% | 328,000 m² | 2,820 dwellings · 10,800 residents · village-house + townhouse + walk-up |
| Civic & Community | 14% | 66,000 m² | Library, hospital wing, mosque, reading garden building |
| Retail · Market | 7% | 33,000 m² | Anar market arcade · pharmacy · grocery · café terraces |
| Education | 5% | 24,000 m² | K-12 campus + craft school + after-school wing |
| Working district | 4% | 19,000 m² | Makers' edge · last-mile logistics · civic depot |
| Site total | 100% | 470,000 m² | Plus 38% public realm at grade |
All numbers are pre-construction master-plan values; site-plan refinements may adjust ±5%. T0
A day in Anar runs by orchard hours, market arcades, and BRT cycles. The market opens at six; the library opens at eight; the children's garden holds the late afternoon shadow.
The Anar pharmacy opens at seven. Pomegranates already stacked on the terraces; the bakery has set out its shelves. Mothers with school children pass on their way to the K-12 campus; the BRT pulls into the central shelter; the café crowd takes the shaded side.
The children's reading garden holds the midday shadow. The pergola is set; the herb beds are at their peak. The library's children's wing extends into the garden; a single grandmother and grandchild read together at the harvest bench. Lavender, thyme, rosemary in the air.
The Al-Bilal hospital court takes the late light. The day-surgery wing closes; the maternity wing's family corridor fills with visitors. An olive-tree allée carries the visitor flow back to the BRT shelter; the pharmacy stays open until nine.

Three-storey village townhouses on inner-cell lanes, each with a private rear court, a roof terrace, and a clay-tile pitched roof. Sized for families and multigenerational households. Lanes are pedestrian-priority; the cluster sits between the market spine and the orchard edge.

Three-to-four-storey walk-up apartment blocks above the market arcade. Active ground floor (pharmacy / café / grocery); upper floors carry small family apartments with deep south-facing balconies. Sized for younger households and single residents.
Anar sits on the corridor's southern band, looking back toward Durra on the higher ridge and forward to the agricultural ribbon. Two BRT stations bracket the spine; a tree-lined approach road links to the corridor expressway.
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Anar Quarter is the corridor's village-scale anchor — 124 hectares of red-tile Levantine village, 10,800 residents, 2,820 dwellings, six civic anchors, and the Al-Bilal hospital on the southern edge. First registrations are open to verified counterparties — sovereign anchors, foundation patrons, qualified institutional and individual purchasers.