Each of the 22 buildings splits (into 2 or 3 volumes) to offer a semi-outdoor shaded lobby at its heart with open-air circulation and a landscaped triple height atrium offering the buildings their unique resort feel. The stepped form provides a terrace for every apartment and breaks the massing.

The cluster buildings within phase 1 are designed to have protruding frames with random louvered screens for shading and privacy giving an “Arabesque” flavour to the contemporary form.

The apartments interiors are open plan with a warm materials palette following the earthy tones of the building. They are carefully designed to achieve an efficient compact layout. The apartment modules are recurrent in different grouping arrangements between the various building modules, achieving economies of scale without apparent repetition.

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The villa side façades are solid to eliminate overlooking and screens are utilised for privacy and solar protection. The screens dissolve from the solid sides and gradually open up towards the views, blending the envelope of the building with its surroundings. Different villa types have distinct contemporary patterns abstracted from traditional architecture, further differentiating the modules and offering variation and choice for the individual residents.
The landscape follows the minimal rectilinear language of the architecture and blurs the boundary between the inside and outside by allowing clear open views, utilising a consistent materials palette and bringing the greenery into the house. Each villa has ample garden space, with a private overflow pool, a water feature and amenities such as a bar and BBQ area, and a sunken seating area with an outdoor fireplace under the self-shading iconic floating mass of the building. The wooden sundeck leads to a pontoon where the residents can moor their own yachts.

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The module is repeated three times and utilizes three cores to eliminate any corridors for an efficient design where each of its 28 apartments has dual aspect views. The form is stepped to give terraces to all apartments and to reduce apparent height. The distinctive cantilevered frames and intricate screens offer shading, privacy and give this contemporary, bold design a regional flavour.

The crescent apartments are the biggest and most exclusive. They are designed with a striking yet simple high-end materials palette making the spaces feel light and breezy.

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The client brief to maximize on small apartments, results in a large mass. As the other Avenue buildings, the base is predominantly solid to lift-up the building and reduce its bulky appearance. The horizontal banding further breaks the height and improves the “flow” of its form. The waves create a balcony for each apartment. The building’s linearity is broken by splitting it open down its middle to create an airy and inviting triple height lobby.

The building is simple and elegant, resulting in efficient space planning and structure. The characteristic wavy appearance can be achieved by a cost effective precast concrete cladding system where three unique pieces are repeated to achieve the curvy forms.

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The building form is split into three parts to follow the existing city grain and the rhythm of buildings on the opposite side of the Avenue. It sits on a dark stone base giving it its floating appearance. The base is recessed to increase the public space on the street side and is predominantly solid for the privacy of the ground level apartments (replacing the need for a fence) which face their own private gardens at the back.

The buildings are characterised by their distinct monolithic protruding “chamfered” slabs that offer shading and privacy for the apartments. The modular pre-cast concrete cladding elements are a cost effective and durable solution to achieve the sharp contemporary appearance of the building.

The chamfered building contains the most compact and efficiently planned apartments with cost effective selection of materials to increase their affordability. The materials palette is neutral to suit a wide range of age groups and tastes.

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Although the plot enjoys a prime waterfront location at the moment, development pressure to expand and reclaim further into the sea and the systematic loss of waterfrontage in Bahrain pose significant challenges to the site.

To future proof the development, the tower form is stretched to the maximum allowable height. The building orientation is biased towards the northwest which would still maintain sea views through a permanent sea channel. Different building forms are explored to optimize views, provide shade, and break the dense and large gross floor area into slender, elegant proportions that appeal to the human scale. The parking levels are concealed in four underground stories in order to create an interesting and active streetscape unmarred by unsightly parking facades. A retail podium embraces the active pedestrian street experience championed by the Bahrain Bay masterplan. The podium itself is designed as an extension of the tower, not as a separate architecturally detached bulk, and the tower itself comes down to the ground floor to greet users immediately.

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