The Project The project is the realisation of the British Embassy Building in Sana'a, Yemen, which was completed in 2006. The commission was won in an international competition set by the British Foreign Office in 2003. A British practice, Design Engine Architects, won the commission, responding directly to the brief of producing a proposal for `a flagship building that demonstrates the best of British architecture'. The embassy building is situated within a challenging site, and has to contend with desert-like conditions, where temperatures can be very hot in the day and very cold at night, and Design Engine also found there were challenges to the nature of the brief as well as the site. The building needed to provide a secure, yet accessible service to the local community and create a representative cultural interface for Great Britain. These issues informed the organisation of the building's internal layout, the choice of materials used and the relationships between outside gardens and inside rooms. 2. The roof of the building overhangs the wall of the embassy, protecting it from the overhead sun. As the sun moves across the building the moving shadow animates the exterior elevations. 3. The glazed wall frames views across the landscape and allows light to filter into the inside spaces. Shadows move slowly across the wall and floors, defining interior features and details.