identity Design Awards 2020 shortlist: Outdoor Design

identity is pleased to announce the shortlist for the sixth annual identity Design Awards 2020, which is set to take place on 4 November in Dubai, UAE.

Over the coming week, we will be releasing this year’s shortlisted projects.

The Outdoor Design category recognises any completed project located outdoors, from outdoor dining, installations and public space projects to gardens and beaches . 

Here is the full shortlist for Outdoor design: 

Al Hosn Landscape and Masterplan by CEBRA architecture – Abu Dhabi, UAE 

Qasr Al Hosn site

The Qasr Al Hosn Fort in central Abu Dhabi is the city’s oldest and most important building. Originally built in 1760 as a watchtower to protect only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island and later extended into a palace, it literally constitutes the birthplace of the modern metropolis Abu Dhabi. The aim of the transformation masterplan is to reinstate the Fort as the cultural heart of the city with a new 140.000 m2 cultural park-scape and the conservation of the site surrounding the historical building and the Cultural Foundation, a 1980’s Grade ‘A’ listed cultural centre of Bauhaus origins. Introducing a new type of locally rooted urban landscape, the project combines modernity alongside the Emirate’s maritime and desert heritage in a coherent narrative that communicates between the site’s two contrasting buildings. The project emphasizes this duality by dividing the site diagonally into two contrasting landscapes. A plain, soft and open desert landscape around the Fort reinstates the building as a free-standing landmark on sand like it was before the modern city rapidly sprung up. A paved and programmed area with intensified planting surrounds the Cultural Foundation, combining the desert landscape with the modern city grid structure.

DIFC Gate Village lighting scheme by Nulty – Dubai, UAE 

Nulty completed an all LED lighting scheme for the Gate Village at DIFC, a leading financial hub for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. At the heart of the DIFC is the Gate Village, an area that connects shops and restaurants with art galleries and communal green spaces. Working closely with 10DESIGN, Nulty implemented a lighting scheme to help cement Gate Village as a destination for professionals, local residents and tourists, helping to drive footfall during the evenings and weekends. Nulty’s design brings the space to life through light, creating a vibrant surrounding for those that use it. The lighting concept includes two  illuminated bridges that help encourage dwell time in the Gate Village whilst enabling people to orientate themselves and discover new shops and restaurants. Linear RGB media tubes were mounted onto the ribs of each bridge to strengthen their architectural shape and provide a visually stimulating display when they are in dynamic colour changing mode. Inside the bridges, halo lights have been mounted to the ceiling to create an arresting 360 degree light portal as you walk through it.

Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park by waiwai – Dubai, UAE 

Located along the water’s edge of Dubai creek and adjacent to Jameel Arts Centre, Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park  is the United Arab Emirates’ first open-air art park. Designed as an open public space with no fence to encourage social interaction through art, it welcomes Dubai’s diverse cultural community to gather around art and engage in a public dialogue.  Given the sensitive desert climate of the gulf, the sculpture park is designed mainly as a fluid hardscape with a selection of regional plants that require minimal irrigation. In addition to the given artwork, wai wai introduced facilities that further engage the public. These facilities include a 200-seat amphitheater, a children’s sand playground, a food stall area shaded by umbrellas as well as built in board game tables. The art works and facilities are arranged to follow a water ripple-like, hidden circular geometry. This allows for an organic pedestrian flow, seamlessly connecting to the colonnade around the arts centre and the corniche along the creek.  The selection of  green and yellow pre-cast tiles correlates with the pearlescent façade panels of adjacent art centre.

The Dunes Platform – Al Marmoom by AE7 and Dubai Municipality – Dubai, UAE 

Set deep within the desert sands, The Dunes Platform is located in the Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve. The Dunes Platform’s setting deep inside Dubai’s desert landscape offers a space for meditation, yoga, and nature viewing. Blending into its desert environment, the structure is inspired by the surrounding sand dunes and the shrub formations that form over the sand. A glass partition that opens to the shaded outdoor platform, allows visitors to exercise and meditate out in the openness. The outdoor platform also acts as a viewing deck, offering visitors a chance to take in the vastness of the desert landscape, while enjoying the sunrise or sunset over the dunes.