SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPT

Our design approach of the project was to move from a reclaimed land to a multi-ecosystem habitat. The site is located on a reclaimed land, with a low ecological value and deprived habitat that used to be an ecologically rich and biodiverse mangrove forest.

Other than the absence of habitat, we were presented with 3 main environmental challenges: very high sun exposure on the southern and western side, prevailing winds from the north-east side, poor soil and sea water intrusion on site.

The main landscape solution that we presented is the creation of 6 ecological areas where each has a precise list flora that would be planted to attract specific fauna such as birds, pollinator and insects.

The ecological areas proposed are: Acacia Savannah Plains, Food Production, Oasis, Mangrove and Wetlands, Coastal Desert and Desert.

Some landscape interventions included:

• Water condensation features such as Zibold and dew pond.
• Creation of movement: since the site is completely flat, we played with topography and heights.

Some of the Climate responsive architecture interventions are:

• Compact volumes for the buildings
• Reduced glazing on the West and South-West facades
• Development of the volumes along the East-West axis
• Cooling strategies such as wind scoop, cross stack ventilation, Creation of courtyards, green walls and green roofs, and evaporative cooling.

Some design decisions:

• The main road crossing the site was placed 3.5 meters below the ground floor level. This would reduce any visual disconnection from the cars, aid pedestrian circulation as people would be able to walk over the road on different bridges, and most importantly provide a safe environment for children to play outdoors.
• The mosque was placed in the area closer to the community and other residential houses to make it accessible to the public.
• The orientation of the buildings was done in a way to provide views towards the sea and block the views into the villas to preserve privacy.