This seven-building residential development sits on the border shared by the Contemporary and Traditional urban planning zones of the Business Bay and Burj Dubai District. Developments here aim to position the U.A.E. as the global commercial and business centre of the Middle East.

The wadi, Arabic for ephemeral water courses that form after heavy rain, lies at the heart of this project’s concept to cultivate pockets of greenery within an architectural form that would not normally encourage such growth. Wadi are associated with life and centres of human population in arid Arab countries because they are vital sources of sub-surface water. Existing within spaces carved out by the transformative processes of erosion, they coexist with canyons to provide better protected environments that can nurture life in the desert. As such, this project’s concept is inspired by life’s ability to adapt and flourish even in the most difficult conditions.

It is in allusion to this phenomenon that this project’s ‘eroded’ building form offers a wadi-like contextual topography in which to cultivate a naturalistic pattern of floral growth. The form was derived by extruding a volume of ‘rock strata’ within site parameters, then ‘eroding’ it to define the wind tunnels, view corridors and circulation paths. Eroded negative spaces lay the foundation for gardening and plant growth throughout the development.

On the ground level, these spaces make up a topography of wadi, comprising perpetually shade-giving courtyards that interconnect and a sandy, soft-edged swimming pool akin to a filled wadi. The selected softscape’s alternation in flowering periods highlights changes that mark passing seasons: for example, the Desert Holly, blooming from January to April and the Brittlebrush, blooming subsequently in spring, collectively evoke the passage of time. Other life-giving ecosystems dwell comfortably, forged by larger species such as the Juniperus Procera which provides excellent shade and screen protection from sandstorms common in Dubai.

The façade design reflects the process of simulating the effect of a sand storm on a wall of locally-sourced brick, and covers each building with its erosive effects. Interstitial wadi-like spaces between the outer, climatic, breathable skin façade and the habitable space of the apartment unit regulate temperature by allowing for ventilation within the interstitial space.

Bridges linking the residential buildings at different heights present opportunities to create an ‘oasis in the sky’. The undulating profile of the continuous roof garden fashioned also by the differing heights of the buildings it connects creates shaded wadis which cool the units beneath and form an oasis-sky garden. Hardy perennial plants were chosen for their water-storage abilities characteristic of desert plant life to help minimise maintenance.