Masdar City Central Park, Phase 1

Following a successful design competition entry, AECOM was commissioned by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company - Masdar to develop a concept design for a strategically and centrally-placed outdoor park located in a mixed-use area in one of the world’s most sustainable communities, Masdar City. Masdar City is 12km east of Abu Dhabi and upon the development’s completion, it will be home to around 50,000 residents and will offer approximately 40,000 jobs. Phase one of the park was originally intended to serve the residential area ‘as an extension of their home’, however, the park has evolved towards higher aspirations. The client and project team are both aware of the park’s potential to create a dynamic equilibrium comprising community, diversity, education, and innovation, inspired by local and regional cultural influences. The client’s overarching goal is to achieve a ‘4 Pearl Community Rating’ under the DMT’s Estidama PCRS rating system, in addition to incorporating Masdar City’s self-developed public realm KPIs to further enhance sustainability. These requirements include; ecological enhancements where 70% of plant material is native and adaptive, drought and/or salt-tolerant, public realm lighting with a minimum of 70% energy consumption coming from renewable resources, compliance to shading targets and smart irrigation. The Central Park at Masdar has been designed to reinforce Masdar City’s public realm principles that encompass the themes; liveable community, environment, natural systems, outdoor comfort, water conservation, and urban systems. The park’s layout resolves the integration of open space with existing buildings Materials selected aligned with the city’s sustainable vision and were regionally available. Materials used have a minimum SRI value of 29 and they help mitigate the urban heat island effect. The innovative sustainability elements are the most notable within the park. The Fog Harvesting Tower features state-of-the-art technology that captures water through a fog harvester which is then reused for irrigation, feeding the urban farming areas. To aid to the thermal comfort of the park, the design has been shaped to capture prevailing winds from the north-west directions and then disperse cooling winds throughout the development. In addition, phase one has achieved 90% shading over playgrounds and 80% shading for primary pathways. Visitors can flow through a network of connective paths with the main pathway featuring a multipurpose shade canopy of photovoltaic panels that collect sun energy to light the park, contributing towards a net-zero resources aspiration. Further sustainability features include; the collection of organic, green-cut, and biodegradable waste for onsite landscaping, the inclusion of 70% native and adaptive drought, and salt-tolerant plants, and the implementation of a comprehensive water strategy minimizing water consumption such as leak detection and improved irrigation practices. The park irrigation demand is 2L/m2/day. Another key design element is how the UAE’s heritage is represented within the park. Cultural references and stories that honor Sheikh Zayed are engraved throughout the park in story-telling areas and trails to engages visitors. Masdar Central Park is a unique park intertwining values of sustainability, culture and wellbeing addressed together through one holistic landscape design.