The Aiwan-e-Sadr (), or Presidential Palace, is the

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

and workplace of the

president of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

. It is located in northeastern

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

Constitution Avenue Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the Northwest, Washington, D.C., northwest and Northeast, Washington, D.C., northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and ...

, between the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Building and the Cabinet block of the

Pakistan Secretariat Pakistan Secretariat () serves as the headquarters for the Cabinet and Government of Pakistan. It is located on Red Zone in Islamabad, Capital Territory, Pakistan. Blocks * Block A: ** Ministry of Commerce & Textile Industry ** Ministry of ...

. Residences for the presidential staff, known as the President's Colony, are also located behind the presidency, adjacent to 4th Avenue. The administrative head of Aiwan-e-Sadr is the principal secretary to the president of Pakistan, a position being held by Muhammad Shakeel Malik since December 2023.

History

Prior to Aiwan-e-Sadr's construction, the presidents of Pakistan lived in the Prince Palace located on the Mall in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

. That building now houses the Fatima Jinnah Women University. The construction of the building commenced in 1970, and took 11 years to complete. President

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until Death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also se ...

inaugurated it, but he lived instead in the Army House on Jhelum Road, Rawalpindi since he was also the Chief of Army Staff. Therefore, the first

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

to live there was Ghulam Ishaq Khan, in 1988. Presidents Farooq Leghari, Muhammad Rafiq Tarar,

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024, having held the same office from 2008 to 2013. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the ...

, Mamnoon Hussain, and Arif Alvi also used it as their official residence. President

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

never lived in the palace, as he was also the army chief, and therefore lived in the Army House, which had by then shifted to the old Prime Minister House. Currently, President

, lives there.

Building complex

The building is built in a modern step pyramid architectural style. There are four main halls, each named after one of the Founding Fathers of Pakistan: Jinnah Hall, Liaquat Hall, Johar Hall, and Nishtar Hall. The adjacent gardens have been designed on the lines of the old Mughal gardens, and contain fountains as well as a zoo. The zoo was opened in 2008, and once housed monkeys, deer,

nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest antelope of Asia, and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Boselaphus'', which was ...

, zebras, and

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...

s. The current menagerie consists of chinkara, deer, urial, pigeons, grey parrots, and pigeons, and pheasants. A stable, housing around a hundred horses, is also present nearby.

Green Presidency Initiative

After assuming office in 2018, President Alvi launched the Green Presidency Initiative to reduce the building's energy consumption, and to shift it to renewable energy. On 15 October 2022, the Aiwan-e-Sadr received the ISO 50001 EnMS certification, which made it the world's first green presidency. The savings from energy conservation and clean energy generation were reported to be equivalent to 3,154,750 kWh, reduction of 3,144 tonnes of

greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...

es, or plantation of 142,909 mature trees. The building also received a GBC SEED Platinum certification from the Green Building Council due to its electricity requirements being fulfilled by a 1 MW

solar system The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

Public access

Aiwan-e-Sadr is usually out of bounds for the general public owing to its sensitive nature. However, in recent years, it has been opened for public twice – on 8 December 2018 and 1 January 2022.

References

{{Cultural heritage sites in Islamabad Capital Territory , state=expanded Buildings and structures in Islamabad Presidential residences Official residences in Pakistan Continuity of government in Pakistan Palaces in Pakistan 1981 establishments in Pakistan Government buildings completed in 1981

History

Building complex

Green Presidency Initiative

Public access

See also

References