Abu Dhabi Sheikha Fatima Park in redevelopment
Sheikha Fatima Park, formerly known as Khalidiyah Ladies Park, is to be redeveloped at a cost of Dh94 million in Abu Dhabi. The renovation work began last month and was expected to be completed by July 2018, said officials at the Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport and Abu Dhabi City Municipality. An artist’s impression of the 46,000-square-metre redevelopment, which will include 24,035 square metres of green areas, showed fountains, walkways, play areas and a pavilion. Once completed, the park’s facilities will also include playgrounds, a cultural arena, outdoor market, an organic food market and cafes plus a ladies-only section,…
Dubai will build Desert Rose City, flower-shaped eco-city.
When you fly over Dubai in a few years’ time, it might not just be The Palm Jumeirah and The World Islands that you can spot from the airplane window. The city may soon have another breath-taking development clearly visible from up in the desert skies: an eco-friendly mega-district shaped like flowers. Dubbed Desert Rose City, the development was initially suggested in 2014 and has just been approved by Dubai Municipality. According to initial reports, 75 percent of Desert Rose City will be residential. The plan is to accommodate 160,000 residents who will work and live in this eco-friendly satellite…
TerraVerde wins Best Residential Award
TerraVerde LLC have been awarded the prestigious title of Best Residential Award for the second time with their Luxury Villa Project in Arabian Ranches, Dubai. This is the fourth time TerraVerde has been shortlisted for the Middle East Interior Design and Architect Awards (MEIDA), which are open to all industry professionals within the MENA region, covering categories from large corporate spaces to retail window displays. The ceremony, which was held at one of Dubai’s most glamorous venues the Cavalli Club, played host to some of the most renowned architects and designers from around the region. The MEIDA awards runs alongside…
Flowers Dubai plants in a year
Come summer or winter, Dubai is always in full bloom due to the meticulous planning and execution of Dubai Municipality’s landscape department. In 2015 alone the Municipality planted 56 million flowers all over Dubai roads and parks. Senior landscape specialist Yasan Awad details the science behind the colour patterns we see on our streets: “We introduced the colour psychology in our flower selection for roads. Colours have a big impact on an individual’s state of mind and mood. For example, those roads that see huge traffic, we try to select colours that will calm and boost happiness and positive energy…
Journey to paradise
Cape Reed was appointed as designer and contractor for an innovative ‘paradise park’ for children in Dubai. Cape Reed was hired to create a children’s ‘paradise’ in Dubai – somewhere that children could spend time (without technology) and experience fresh air and adventure. The park is known as ‘The Journey’ and is located just off of Dubai’s Kite Beach. The site covers a total area of 2,400m². The final designs for the project were completed in May 2015 and the contract was signed in June 2015. Construction started immediately and the project was completed in excellent time despite minor setbacks…
An English Garden
In a beautiful rural setting in the English county of Kent, two Tyler asbestos and concrete-frame barns sat within a concrete farmyard, ruining the look of adjoining gardens and a farmhouse. The client’s specifications to completely revamp the property included replacing the barns, farmyard, entrance and an adjoining tennis court with a new building; improving access, creating a kitchen garden and other gardens and linking them to existing gardens and paddocks; adding lighting throughout the garden, and converting oil-reliant buildings and a swimming pool to renewable energy sources. Getting under way E-scape decided to demolish the buildings and start from…
Learning Curve
Leon Kluge created the magnificent Living Beehive art installation at the Durban Botanic Gardens to help educate local children on the importance of water conservation. The brainchild of the National Biodiversity Institute of South Africa and designed by Leon Kluge, the Living Beehive art installation was created to showcase South Africa’s rich blend of natural, cultural and mineral wealth at the COP 17 congress that took place in Durban in 2011. The client’s brief was to create an installation that was both garden and sculpture, and that portrayed the importance of water conservation. It also needed to act as a…
The radiant city
Atelier DYJG took on a government commission to work with artists and help rejuvenate Yantai city in China. The north of Yantai city in Shandong Province faces the sea and a range of hills 70m high, while there were major roads to the east and west. It was inevitable therefore that the city would sprawl southwards, and in 2007 the government took the decision to invest in the area and build a museum and plaza at a site along its southern edge. According to the brief, residential areas were to be in the west and south, with a park towards…
Praising the roof
Pro Landscaper Gulf looks at an award-winning RHS Chelsea show garden designed to sit in splendour on an office block rooftop, combining technology and tranquillity to create an ambient working environment. Designed by Patricia Fox, of UK-based Aralia Garden Design, this stunning 10m x 20m plot was presented as an extension to the working office that could make excellent use of often neglected rooftop space. The garden was created to inspire people to make better use of unused commercial space by demonstrating that office rooftops can be used as viable garden or work spaces amid overcrowded cities. Patricia’s aim was…
Design has a new home
Duncan Denley highlights how his team’s move to the new D3 creative hub in Dubai is inspiring and influencing desert INK’s work The desert INK team moved across to its new offices at D3 this month, and we are already starting to realise the benefits of being located in this burgeoning new creative community. There has been a lot of buzz around TECOM Group’s latest business park of course, but what’s it all about? The principle behind D3 (Dubai Design District, D+D+D = D3, get it?) is to offer first-class lodgings to house the region’s design agencies and creative industries….
