EUROPEANS DRAW INSPIRATION FROM NATURE IN ABU DHABI DESIGN CONTESTS
▶ Czech team are in the pink after taking first place in competition to create flamingo visitor centre at wetland reserve
European architecture teams won competitions to design a visitor centre at an Abu Dhabi wetland area and eco lodges at the emirate’s oryx reserve.
A team from the Czech Republic were behind the winning design for the Abu Dhabi flamingo visitor centre in Al Wathba Wetland Reserve.
The design competition was held by Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, which asked architects from around the world to submit ideas for a flamingo observation tower last year.
Teams were told to make sure their visitor centre designs blend into the landscape.
The wetland reserve is known for its large population of greater flamingos, with about 4,000 living there during the autumn and spring.
The wetlands are home to more than 250 species of birds, 37 plant species and a wide variety of aquatic life.
The Czech entry, called To See and Not To Be Seen, is a flowing structure that evokes rock formations in the desert.
It has a reddish pink hue similar to the flamingos that flock to the reserve every year. The site will include information and training centres, a small cafe, a car park and a viewing area.
The twisting concrete structure, designed by Petr Janda, Anna Podrouzkova and Katerina Tsponova, is unobtrusive and will be covered with lichen to keep the building cool and blend it into the landscape.
The judges said it was a remarkable design that did not dominate its surroundings.
“The proposed structure behaves as part of a living habitat rather than a building,” they said.
It is partially open to the elements, with a shaded viewing area for birdwatchers and an interior surrounded by small aquariums, indigenous grass, climbers and reeds.
An Italian team came first in the competition to design the Mega Dunes Eco Lodges, which will provide guest accommodation in the Arabian oryx reserve in western Abu Dhabi.
The 5,900-square-kilometre desert reserve is home to the largest population of Arabian oryx in the world.
Architects Giuseppe Ricupero, Egidio Cutillo, Stefania Schiro and Enrico Capanni won for their entry Heritage Machine.
Their eco lodge designs look like desert ruins eroded by wind and battered by sand.
Each unit accommodates two people and offers sweeping views of the desert landscape and the chance to observe the Arabian oryx.
The agency said it was considering creating about 25 eco lodges on the reserve to allow visitors to see the animals in their natural habitat.
Each lodge can be built on site using technology that minimises the use of heavy equipment that can damage the landscape.
The thick walls of the lodges will be made with sand from the area, which means they will disintegrate slowly over time.
The rest of the structures can be dismantled and moved to other locations, leaving no permanent trace of the buildings in the reserve.
The Italian entry impressed judges with its natural cooling system and design that “dissolves back into nature”.
“The ideas of physical memory and an original approach to sustainability and building life cycle is remarkable,” the judges said.
They commended the quality of the overall design and how it dealt with local environmental constraints.
The judges awarded second place to an entry from Mexico titled The Rub’ Al Khali Oculus, which they said evoked a desert cactus.
They praised the design for allowing guests a full view of the area, as well as privacy.
Sustainability, energy efficiency and respect for fragile environments were critical criteria for judges in both competitions. Finalists were selected from more than 350 entries.