RAS GHANADA WATER-SPORTS FACILITY

Category: Architecture

Year: Fall 2018

Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Instructor: Camilo Cerro

Project Partner: Alissar Nasrallah

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Ras Ghanada Water-Sports Facility is a project that is located between two main megapolises of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Located in the national mangroves preserve this facility aims to allow the visitors and residents to experience the marine wildlife of the UAE mangroves. Made with minimal area footprint, the whole project is floating in its location respecting preserve’s fauna. The project’s program includes twenty residential units as well as the main programs of the facility, which are: kayakers and scuba-divers’ hub, sea-planes’ school, and paddle boarding together with other water related motor-less means of transportation for the visitors to rent and learn. The whole project is organized along three main on-water piers, those function as datum for all the programs to deviate from. The first deck is a receiver. Second and third decks function as units’ main circulation area, as well as, these piers host the two water related hubs on the edge of each of those piers. The edge of the first deck stores the restaurant, as well as, offices and a smaller café that serve one-day visitors and the residents of the facility. The building at the edge of the second pier functions as a sea-planning school, in which, the residents take classes to then fly one of the sea-planes around the area to experience the whole mangrove preserve around. Finally, the very end of the project, is the all the water activities related hub, kayaking, paddle-boarding and scuba-diving are available for the visitors. Several offices, as well as classrooms and cafes are situated in the building to consult, teach and entertain the users. The last two buildings are considered to be the main functions of the whole project. Moving forward, these three piers are interconnected by a plaza and a viewing deck. All twenty residential units are situated in a way to allow each one of those to have a view of the mangroves around them. Water, mangroves, and the sky are the three main elements that are seen from each dwelling. Introduction of solar panels allows the whole project to be fully sustainable without requiring any additional source of electricity.