Archive for the ‘Housing’ Category

Sufouh Residential Development

Posted by dConsult55

Diar Consult designed and delivered a high-end residential development in Sufouh First for one of the royal families of Abu Dhabi, creating a base for short-stay and weekend getaways in Dubai.

It consists of Executive Villas arranged around a central, private, communal garden, providing a safe, secure and sheltered environment for the family.

As is customary, there is an independent men’s quarter, zoned separately from the Villas, to respect privacy issues. It consists of a large formal majlis and dining area for formal receptions as well as a separate majlis dedicated to men’s daily receptions and social events with all entertainment, leisure and sports facilities being private.

Project Team

Jumeirah Islands

Posted by dConsult55

Jumeirah Islands is a unique development of 3.5km², which, according to master developer Nakheel, represents the largest residential community of inland and manmade islands in the world. It is now one of the most established and prestigious villa living environments in Dubai.

In January 2002, Diar Consult was commissioned by Nakheel to provide detailed master planning and design and delivery of luxury detached and semidetached villas for the 736 plots in the unconventional concept master plan by Callison USA. Their appointment encompassed architectural, structural and MEP design plus post-contract administration of the construction packages. Construction was programmed for phased completion, and involved three main contractors and 52 subcontractors, all managed by Diar Consult.

The master plan arranges villa plots in 46 octagonal clusters of 16 villas each. The clusters are nestled in a lush, undulating landscape surrounded by a complex network of lagoons, lakes and canals. Each cluster consists of 10 Canal Cove Villas, four Garden Homes and two Courtyard Villas, ranging in size from four-bedroom (475m²) to five-bedroom (580m²) properties. With the design of the buildings, Diar Consult imparted one of four stylistic themes on each cluster: Arabian, Mediterranean, Oasis or European.

The verdant landscaped topography and serene water bodies of Jumeirah Islands create a unique, almost countryside environment; immersed in the urban centre of Dubai, they provide relief from the high-density, high-rise cityscape.

Individual villas can be seen in Themed Villas.

Design team

Main contractors

Victory Heights

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The Victory Heights community is located in Dubai Sports City, in a relaxed, landscape-rich environment aimed at mid- to upper-mid income groups. The client’s objective was to develop a residential haven in one of the inland areas of Dubai, creating an oasis in the desert with an international golf course destination as the marketing driver for the project.

To reinforce the oasis aspiration, almost 50 per cent of the 2,278,000 m² development area has been designated as open space and landscape, incorporating the golf course. The 863,000 m² signature 18-hole golf course, designed by champion South African golfer, Ernie Els, provides the heart of the development, allowing it to be introspective, with the focus of the residential component being views of the greens, fairways and surrounding sand dunes.

Diar Consult was appointed in 2004 to design and deliver all 961 homes by providing architectural, structural and MEP design services for the individual units, as well as full post-contract administration services during construction. Diar also played a role in urban design and master planning, creating a sense of place within seven territorially defined villages.

The concept of sub-dividing the master plan into villages comes from a desire to define neighbourhoods with a clear sense of territory, thereby instilling a sense of belonging and ownership for residents. Each village has its own children’s playgrounds, and shared linear parks between back-to-back villas create pedestrian permeability and encourage communal interaction.

To cater for the needs of Dubai’s cosmopolitan population and present a wide range of choice for investors, the design brief called for a variety of villa sizes to be provided in terraced, semi-detached and detached combinations, and in three thematic styles, namely, Andalusian, European and Mediterranean. Townhouses range from 194 m² to 241 m², and villas from 307 m² to 638 m². The spacious homes were designed to maximize views to the golf course and gardens, while ensuring privacy for each residence within its neighbourhood.

Individual villas can be seen in Themed Villas.

Design team

Main Contractors

Townhouses

Posted by dConsult55

The townhouse remains one of the most popular residential typologies in Dubai, particularly given its cosmopolitan socio-economic and demographic structure.

Within a terrace setting, the townhouse is a compact residential unit of two or three storeys high, usually ranging from 150 to 250m². It provides an economical and very efficient living unit for small expatriate families, and makes a great starter home alternative to an apartment.

Over the years, Diar Consult has designed many fine examples of such dwelling units to the satisfaction of several clients. The Townhouses typically benefit from an open-plan living space on the ground floor that maximizes the perception of space by creating long vistas from the front entrance hall to the rear garden. Balconies at upper levels extend the accommodation and connect to the outside while articulating the envelope and creating a rhythmic facade, emphasised by inspired material choices.

Sidra Golf & Residential

Posted by dConsult55

Following the success of Victory Heights in Dubai in 2011, Arcapita Bank appointed Diar Consult to restructure their entire concept master plan for the Sidra Golf and Residential Development in Lusail, Qatar.

Lusail is Qatar’s largest domestic real estate project occupying 35 km² of coastline just north of Doha. Led by Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, the development is intended to cater for a population of 200,000 people. Sidra occupies a 3.36 km2 site in the northern area of Lusail, and will provide new homes for 23,000 people.

The project had been master planned previously by another consultant. Arcapita’s brief to Diar Consult was to realign the master plan with their updated expectations for greater commercial viability and investment returns and, in so doing, create an enhanced business plan to support Arcapita’s submission to Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company.

Diar Consult replanned the entire master plan around the golf course designed by Greg Norman in the western district, and the pitch and putt course in the eastern district. It incorporated a state-of-the-art clubhouse and country club, a boutique hotel and a traditional Arabian souk into the high-end residential districts. Subsequent to the reimagining of the master plan, Diar Consult was appointed to prepare architectural concept designs for the villas, townhouses, apartments, clubhouse, hotel and souk in a mix of Arabian, contemporary and Mediterranean styles.

Themed Villas

Posted by dConsult55

Large-scale community housing developments are typically designed without an end user client so the design is speculative and must appeal to the mass market. Given the many nationalities of expatriates living in the UAE, flexibility and adaptability are important factors in creating appeal.

In a master planned community with many hundreds of villas, it is necessary to provide some variety in the villa designs in order to aid recognition and navigation, and avoid monotony. It can be sufficient to vary colour and size, but this is often not enough.

Theming the villas stylistically via the adjustment of external detailing is an effective method of creating visual relief while broadening appeal from a marketing perspective. In this manner, it is possible to drastically alter the look of a villa without generating an alternative plan layout. The style can be produced using a selection of interchangeable details and materials while still benefitting from economies of scale.

Diar Consult are specialists in economically producing stylised themed villa designs for developer clients. Diar has applied this approach to a number of large-scale communities in the UAE.

Arabian Villas

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The oldest houses yet discovered in the UAE are believed to date back over 6000 years (Dalma, Abu Dhabi). However, it is barely 100 years since the people of the UAE were predominantly nomadic Bedouin herders, fishermen and date farmers residing in tents or barasti huts.

Other than fortifications, only the richest traders or ruling families built more permanent homes from coral and stone. The discovery of oil in the middle of the twentieth century brought about the very rapid economic growth of the UAE and a transformation in the form and construction of dwellings.

Borne of concrete and air-conditioning, this period brought an end to the use of traditional methods of passive climate control that generated much of the form and aesthetic in the early houses.

Unfortunately, the era produced few villas of architectural note in the UAE, and it wasn’t until the very late twentieth century that the influence of expatriate architects moving to the region became evident in new forms and models of villa.

Al Bahia Villas

Posted by dConsult55

Diar Consult designed and delivered 13 terraced and semidetached villas in Umm Sequim aimed at the expatriate community of Dubai. The two-storey villas were designed around a central communal garden and swimming pool. The introspective development provides a safe, secure and sheltered environment, ideal for children to play.

Each villa comprises spacious open-plan living and dining areas, an enclosed kitchen, four bedrooms, a two-car garage, maid’s room and bathroom. They also have a private terrace at the rear, giving direct access to the secure communal garden and swimming pool.

Al Andalus Housing

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Al Andalus Housing is a self-sufficient private community developed by United Al Saqer Group for expatriates living and working in Al Ain. It has created 200 new homes plus all the necessary amenities for a comfortable and healthy lifestyle, including a gym, swimming pool, supermarket, management and maintenance offices, health centre, cafe and children’s playground, all set within landscaped gardens.

Diar Consult was appointed in 2000 to provide extensive design services, including master planning, full architecture and engineering services, as well as interior design. In addition, Diar Consult provided complete post-contract administration in all disciplines. The construction was programmed in two phases, the first of which was completed in 2003 and the second in 2004.

The master-planning strategy creates a dense urban environment that provides shelter and shading to the streetscape in a similar way to that of a traditional Arabian village. The residential accommodation takes the form of spacious three-, four- and five-bedroom villas presented in a modern Mediterranean style in detached and semi-detached layouts. Different construction methodologies were applied to the two phases: phase 1 was built traditionally, while phase 2 employed precast technology. The project demonstrates the effective integration of precast modules through a design and management approach, embracing the technology while controlling production, assembly and impact on the aesthetic.

Project team

Qetaifan Islands

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Qetaifan Islands form an exclusive district in the Lusail City development in Qatar. They comprise four offshore islands, with a combined land area of 2.5 million m2, all connected by pedestrian and vehicular bridges. Within the islands there is a designated development area of 1.7 million m2.

In April 2014, Diar Consult was invited to participate in a competition for the design of four prototypical villas (two waterfront villas and two garden villas) suitable for the development. The scope of services included master planning the two islands and undertaking the architectural design of the buildings as well as the full interior design and furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) for all four villas, to be constructed as precursors to the main development.

Given Qatar’s successful bid for the FIFA 2022 World Cup and Doha’s aim to embrace this tournament, and having considered the project’s location within the wider context of the city, country and region, Diar Consult elected to submit contemporary and technologically advanced design solutions (as opposed to traditional models). Offering new modern lifestyles and vibrant living environments within the community was felt to be compatible with the spirit of the future development of Doha.