The Big Splash // Aljada Central Hub
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_Photo by Luke Hayes-1785171214.jpg)
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© Arada
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© Luke Hayes
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© Luke Hayes
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In an arid environment, fell off one big drop of water.
A splash of water….Hence, a splash of life…Hence, a splash of colors… which escalated this rigid master plan into a fluid one.
Its visual impact in its immediate surroundings is to recreate life turning this dry, mineral soil into a moist, lush one.
This impact is further echoed into the neighboring surroundings and contains a social interaction through the creation of various amenities and facilities such as an auditorium, a promenade retail, an outdoor leisure and so on.
Water converts into the key and dominant component in our landscape proposal.
Conceived as the newest biggest-ever mixed-use project and ideally located in the center of Sharjah, Aljada aims to create a landmark in the heart of the emirate where living, working, entertainment, recreation, shopping and culture all come together in a vibrant and unique urban environment. Commissioned by Zaha Hadid Architects, our aim and focus is to design the Central Hub which is the centerpiece of Aljada.
The idea is for the landscape to act as a connector to welcome the visitors & residents and guide them throughout their journey. Visiting the site should be a journey, an artsy laid-back one, where art, culture and leisure intertwine and flirt with the surrounding landscape architecture. It will reflect Arada’s unwavering commitment to contribute to the Sharjah leadership’s vision by creating unique urban communities with ample green space.
The development reveals a coherent zoning as it includes an extensive residential mix along with a business-friendly environment where each zone sports its own various amenities and program. The latter is conceived into bubbles of different sizes & use thus they all aim to reverberate the original design intent to imitate water droplets.
At the heart of the residential zoning, the development of the leisure park will focus more on family-oriented activities and physical performance whereas in the retail zoning, the business park will focus on entertaining attractions.
The entire complex seeks to provide high-quality public space with an array public and cultural facilities, making it a place for relaxation and excitement for the people who work and live here or just happen to visit.
The master plan achieves the goal to create a place where urban life can reconcile with the nature. The Leisure Park aims to transform this particular zone of the project to a socially and environmentally sustainable neighborhood park, which provides a meaningful space for recreation, environmental education and social connections to the growing community. It features mainly sports areas both indoor and indoor with seating areas amongst them all set amidst a verdant greenery to recreate a woodland garden.
The Business Park, with its more tamed and polished aspect, focuses on the improvement to civic space, introducing new plazas and gardens, to open the project to a more public audience, to make the design accessible to the general public by breaking down a little of the barrier between architects and the public. It offers the perfect balance of community and privacy with its sleek.
The central hub project represents the jewel of Al Jada visionary master plan, the uniqueness of the project’s location and its connectivity within its rich surrounding formed the base of ZHA design vison of creating a significant landmark and lifestyle hub which doesn’t serve the 150,000 population of Al Jada city only, but introducing a new attraction point within Sharjah and across the UAE.
Creating a life style was one of the key driving elements of our vison and understanding of the project ambitious brief; the central hub will be designed as a destination and a new milestone of Sharjah and UAE iconic projects. Its unique location in Sharjah creates a natural destination that encourages people to explore, enjoy and live the experience of a rich activities, programs which serve not only Al Jada residences but Sharjah and UAE residences as well.
The proposal of the central hub swirls around an observatory tower sitting in the lush park full of water features and vegetation. The observation tower is a unique element to be added to Sharjah’s rich attraction point, it will create a distinguished visual landmark from Sharjah’s different spots and will act as the heart of the central hub, the observation tower will host cafés and restaurant providing a dining experience while enjoying the view of the Al Jada beautiful areas and Sharjah other landmarks.
A cluster of elliptical volumes forms a ring around the central open green space. The distribution of the central hub buildings around the observation tower allowed to create a mini passages and piazzas promoting a shaded, low-rise buildings surrounding which allows visitors to enjoy the experience of navigating through different areas, different views and different experiences. The volumes are connected with a continuous cloth of canopies shading the public space and creating a pleasant environment for the many different activities one can enjoy within the central hub. The idea of creating oasis has been applied on a smaller scale by introducing water feature surfaces between the buildings and greenery, allowing all outdoor spaces to be pleasant throughout most of the year.
The perimeter of the development functionally serves the local residents with supermarkets, parks, kids’ activities and other facilities where as the central space can offer a great variety of entertainment and leisure activities.
The observatory tower sits in the very heart of the development and accommodates a luxurious restaurant offering a view over this outstanding development from almost 70 meters above the park.
The core of the project, where the Leisure and Business Park come together around the Observatory Tower, forms the confluence of all the water bodies that flow through harmoniously within the project.
The ultimate goal of the design is a compelling experience that draws people to return again and again, through different seasons of the year and of life.
// Sharjah – U.A.E
A splash of water….Hence, a splash of life…Hence, a splash of colors… which escalated this rigid master plan into a fluid one.
Its visual impact in its immediate surroundings is to recreate life turning this dry, mineral soil into a moist, lush one.
This impact is further echoed into the neighboring surroundings and contains a social interaction through the creation of various amenities and facilities such as an auditorium, a promenade retail, an outdoor leisure and so on.
Water converts into the key and dominant component in our landscape proposal.
Conceived as the newest biggest-ever mixed-use project and ideally located in the center of Sharjah, Aljada aims to create a landmark in the heart of the emirate where living, working, entertainment, recreation, shopping and culture all come together in a vibrant and unique urban environment. Commissioned by Zaha Hadid Architects, our aim and focus is to design the Central Hub which is the centerpiece of Aljada.
The idea is for the landscape to act as a connector to welcome the visitors & residents and guide them throughout their journey. Visiting the site should be a journey, an artsy laid-back one, where art, culture and leisure intertwine and flirt with the surrounding landscape architecture. It will reflect Arada’s unwavering commitment to contribute to the Sharjah leadership’s vision by creating unique urban communities with ample green space.
The development reveals a coherent zoning as it includes an extensive residential mix along with a business-friendly environment where each zone sports its own various amenities and program. The latter is conceived into bubbles of different sizes & use thus they all aim to reverberate the original design intent to imitate water droplets.
At the heart of the residential zoning, the development of the leisure park will focus more on family-oriented activities and physical performance whereas in the retail zoning, the business park will focus on entertaining attractions.
The entire complex seeks to provide high-quality public space with an array public and cultural facilities, making it a place for relaxation and excitement for the people who work and live here or just happen to visit.
The master plan achieves the goal to create a place where urban life can reconcile with the nature. The Leisure Park aims to transform this particular zone of the project to a socially and environmentally sustainable neighborhood park, which provides a meaningful space for recreation, environmental education and social connections to the growing community. It features mainly sports areas both indoor and indoor with seating areas amongst them all set amidst a verdant greenery to recreate a woodland garden.
The Business Park, with its more tamed and polished aspect, focuses on the improvement to civic space, introducing new plazas and gardens, to open the project to a more public audience, to make the design accessible to the general public by breaking down a little of the barrier between architects and the public. It offers the perfect balance of community and privacy with its sleek.
The central hub project represents the jewel of Al Jada visionary master plan, the uniqueness of the project’s location and its connectivity within its rich surrounding formed the base of ZHA design vison of creating a significant landmark and lifestyle hub which doesn’t serve the 150,000 population of Al Jada city only, but introducing a new attraction point within Sharjah and across the UAE.
Creating a life style was one of the key driving elements of our vison and understanding of the project ambitious brief; the central hub will be designed as a destination and a new milestone of Sharjah and UAE iconic projects. Its unique location in Sharjah creates a natural destination that encourages people to explore, enjoy and live the experience of a rich activities, programs which serve not only Al Jada residences but Sharjah and UAE residences as well.
The proposal of the central hub swirls around an observatory tower sitting in the lush park full of water features and vegetation. The observation tower is a unique element to be added to Sharjah’s rich attraction point, it will create a distinguished visual landmark from Sharjah’s different spots and will act as the heart of the central hub, the observation tower will host cafés and restaurant providing a dining experience while enjoying the view of the Al Jada beautiful areas and Sharjah other landmarks.
A cluster of elliptical volumes forms a ring around the central open green space. The distribution of the central hub buildings around the observation tower allowed to create a mini passages and piazzas promoting a shaded, low-rise buildings surrounding which allows visitors to enjoy the experience of navigating through different areas, different views and different experiences. The volumes are connected with a continuous cloth of canopies shading the public space and creating a pleasant environment for the many different activities one can enjoy within the central hub. The idea of creating oasis has been applied on a smaller scale by introducing water feature surfaces between the buildings and greenery, allowing all outdoor spaces to be pleasant throughout most of the year.
The perimeter of the development functionally serves the local residents with supermarkets, parks, kids’ activities and other facilities where as the central space can offer a great variety of entertainment and leisure activities.
The observatory tower sits in the very heart of the development and accommodates a luxurious restaurant offering a view over this outstanding development from almost 70 meters above the park.
The core of the project, where the Leisure and Business Park come together around the Observatory Tower, forms the confluence of all the water bodies that flow through harmoniously within the project.
The ultimate goal of the design is a compelling experience that draws people to return again and again, through different seasons of the year and of life.
// Sharjah – U.A.E