Like the Issam Faris Institute, the Lebanese American University’s campus in Byblos similarly addressed the need to preserve green space for this rapidly urbanizing region. In 1991, Samir Khairallah and Partners was invited to design a six-building campus on a steep hill ranging in elevation from 200 to almost 500 meters above sea level. The architects decided to allocate the entire campus in a cluster flanking a main pedestrian street, a decision that honestly and directly presented the least damage to the existing greenery.
Samir Khairallah and Partners took on the different levels of topography in the site by linking the campus from within the buildings themselves. Every building can be accessed at two levels, some at up to four different levels, allowing the inhabitants to surpass the topography when possible, but also strongly linking the project to the hill it sits within. Even the central street exists on three different levels that move with the surrounding topography. The architects offered nature their respect in such a way that allowed for the easy, practical circulation of faculty and students.