The actual plans for Bin Laden’s “pucca” house, in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

 

 

There’s understandably been much interest in the house in which Osama Bin Laden whiled away his hours while hiding in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. Photographs have been taken of the three-story buildings, graphics have been produced to show the outline and design of the eight-bedroom property. But for those who have an interest in architecture and that sort of thing, here are the original plans, as produced by an Abbottabad architect.

A file held by the local authorities in the town shows that plans for the “pucca” (or proper) house were filed in the summer of 2004 by the man known as Arshad Khan, who is thought to have been Bin Laden’s courier. His ID card, Number CH 9613-753-20, believed to be fake, gives a date of birth as 09/06/1977. It is though the house was completed by September 2005, raising doubts about some reports claiming the property was raided by the Pakistanis in 2003. The file also shows that the occupants never paid any property tax, and that the completed building breached several guidelines. The file says the house had a “flush system” and a drainage tank. The official address on file is: House No 3, Street No 8-A, Garga Road, Thanda Chowa, Hashmi Colony, Abbottabad.

The architects for the plans were Modern Associates. One of the owners, Junaid Younis, said his father, Mohammad, had done the drawing, liaising with Arshad Khan through a property agent. “Lots of people come to us. We are more interested in making money rather than the individual,” Mr Younis told me.

 

 

 

o