North to the Old City a unique religious compound of 22,000 m2  from the 4th century, not developed since 1900, is inhabited today by twenty staff members and fifty students. The compound, includes a church, monastery, school for biblical and archaeological studies, the Ecol Biblique, and a library of 115,000 volumes.

The designed Master Plan consists of new buildings: a library, a research center for Middle Eastern Studies and building additions to the monastery and the school totaling 18,000 m2, all re-enforcing the exiting massing around courtyards.
The detailed design for the 5 stories (2 below ground), 8000 m2 library integrates within the exiting historical buildings. The library uses the monastery’s 25m x 25m module, and incorporates archades, cloisters, large openings and sun screens in the order and rhythm of the existing, giving present interpretation to scale and material.