The Autumn 2010 H+A newspaper is on its way to a mailbox near you featuring award announcements, blog highlights and new projects; the PJA Advertising + Marketing offices in Cambridge, a conceptual design for an eco-friendly 'dune shack' beach house on Cape Cod, and the main feature: Lulu Island.
Lulu Island is a man-made island off the coast of Abu Dhabi, UAE. Earlier this year, H+A began an exciting collaboration with Sasaki Associates of Watertown, MA on the development of housing prototypes and a new hotel for their masterplan of Neighborhood 3, one of several new neighborhoods proposed for the island.
Below are images and descriptions of the H+A buildings in Neighborhood 3, and a basic description of the masterplan. Download a PDF of the newspaper here.
Uniquely located at the West end of Lulu island, Neighborhood 3 is conceived as a pedestrian oriented environment supported by multiple public transit options. It will be a self-sustaining live-work community with significant ties to the city and characterized by a strong sense of place and its connection to the water. Dwellings, work areas, commercial and public spaces overlook and front the neighborhood’s marina, canal and waterfront promenade.
Neighborhood 3 is defined by a continuous “ridge” of taller buildings along Lulu Boulevard and flanking both the marina and water canal edges. The buildings step down in height toward the neighborhood center and the waterfront, maximizing views of the sea and the city. Apartment building blocks are lined along the taller building spines, while townhouses, loft apartments and special public building blocks fill the mid and lowrise areas of the neighborhood. Townhouses create a continuous built edge along the neighborhood’s park, marina, and waterfront defining Lulu’s cityside facing Abu Dhabi. Defined by a series of neighborhood destinations, this new community captures the ideal of an urban island environment just a few hundred meters from the vibrant downtown and corniche of Abu Dhabi.
Following Sasaki’s master plan and using Abu Dhabi’s ‘Estidama’ sustainability program, the project pursues a highly responsive design to the local climate, culture and environment. Building blocks, as well as individual buildings throughout the neighborhood, are conceived as structures that mitigate the weather. Using strategies for passive cooling, blocks and buildings work to create comfortable micro-climates in large public places as well as within private dwellings.
Marina Canal Hotel
The Marina Canal Hotel is an 8-story building, with two floors of retail at ground level. The lobby’s double height space acts as the building’s ‘living room’, connecting to all amenities. The rooftop along Marina Canal will be home to a pool and bar sheltered by a dramatic canvas tensile structure. The hotel facade is clad in a series of delicate horizontal balconies wrapped by an operable shading screen system. The enclosure lies on top of a rough-hewn stone podium akin to the material and character of the waterfront plaza it addresses.
Luxury Housing Block
This building is a unique series of interlocking residences that are oriented around three separate open courtyard spaces that provide dappled light and cooling breezes deep into the heart of each residence. The courtyard concept recalls traditional dwelling types and time tested architectural responses to the specifi c climate of the Gulf region. The large penthouse residences are conceived as ‘urban villas’, with all main living spaces and outdoor terraces oriented toward the Gulf views.
'Soho' Apartment Complex
Located in a unique ‘skip-stop’ mixed-use building with connecting corridors on alternating floors, this urban duplex takes its inspiration from open loft living in New York City’s Soho. The spacious apartments have a main live-work level and a more private upper bedroom level, each with its own outdoor terrace access. A semi-private office is located directly off the main entry. The dramatic, open stair to the bedroom level reveals a secondary living area with island views through screened full height windows.