Dubai Creek Harbor is a progressive and innovative new neighborhood that aims to respond to environmental concerns with professional, best-practice measures that will ensure an environment that is healthy, accessible, and environmentally responsible.
The storied history, culture, and nature of Dubai Creek serves as the inspiration for the design of Dubai’s newest public realm. Dubai’s relationship to the water is an essential part of its history. For over 7,000 years, the earliest civilizations within the region have enriched their lives via pearl harvesting, which brought personal wealth, regional prosperity, and an intimate connection to the sea that is still prominent in Emirati culture. Although pearl harvesting as an industry is almost obsolete today, the pearl and its shell enclosure serve as the design basis for the modern metropolis we know today. The design, material selection, and construction approach for the harbor have been inspired by key features of the shell, such as its texture, luminosity, shape, and haptic qualities. References to the qualities and nature of the shell are interwoven throughout the visitor and residential experience. Strategies aim to increase site vegetation, dark-sky compliance lighting, and employ light-colored materials and native planting palettes, all which contribute to a greener development.
Hangzhou Hubin
West Lake in Hangzhou, China, one of the world’s most romantic places and as familiar an icon as the Great Wall or the Forbidden City, has been designated by the United Nations as one of the World Cultural Heritage Sites. Seven hundred years later, the city that served ancient emperors as a capitol boasts a population of over three million and is still a...
Aitken Place Park
Aitken Place Park is at the heart of Toronto’s East Bayfront Community – an area transformed from an underutilized industrial brownfield into a vibrant waterfront neighborhood. Flanked by the residential development to the west and the commercial buildings to the north, the park’s water’s edge location creates a unique destination that invites residents, touri...
Kula Belgrade
The landscape of the St. Regis Belgrade creates a dynamic public space at the nexus of several major roadways and the city’s bike and pedestrian waterfront path. Drawing from Belgrade’s urban culture, natural context, and layered history, the design introduces a central urban waterfront space at the heart of Kula Belgrade, celebrating a new destination for the...
Suzhou Center
The Suzhou Center is a landmark urban space within the Suzhou Central Business District that embodies the spirit of the city of Suzhou as a gateway for intersecting old and new cultural and historic heritage. The successful combination of high-density development and ecological conservation will allow for Suzhou to transition to a garden city where state-of-th...