Xeritown to emphasise on sustainability

Sensitivity to culture and sustainability are the two drivers behind the Xeritown project in Bawadi, Dubailand, the project's principal architect told Emirates Business.

"The extensive use of glass is really ugly. It is not culturally related to this part of the world and is not sustainable. Hence, you can note that in Xeritown, we would like to use skins, and maybe layers in the façade, to control the sun, the heat and the wind," said Farid Esmaeil, principal architect at X Architects, a Dubai-based architectural company.

The project is a 59-hectare sustainable mixed-use development in Dubailand and the client is Dubai Properties. It will provide housing for about 7,000 people. According to the architect. Xeritown takes the desert and local climate as a context within which the urban form emerges by working with the natural environment instead of against it.

"The masterplan is finished and work will start on site in two months," said Esmaeil. The project is expected to be completed by 2012.

In the design, the built-up area has been compressed to occupy only 50 per cent of the site to achieve a compact design setting. Its structure is defined by alternating narrow pedestrian alleys and small squares, typical of Arabian towns. This urban setting is divided in elongated islands that are orientated so as to gain from the prevailing winds crossing the site.

"We did wind studies for this particular project. We looked at using the environment to our advantage – the solar path, the orientation of the buildings in a way that the façade is towards the north and south, and the east and west are protected from the sun," said Esmaeil. "The cold wind that comes from the desert will penetrate through the longitudinal cuts in the urban fabric, while the hot wind is always blocked by the way we have positioned the volumes."

The priority of the firm was to look at social sustainability issues. "We started to mix different programmes together. There are social programmes and cultural programmes with a mix of residences, offices and small shopping districts. Our priority was to have different social mixes," said Esmaeil. "We wanted people to interact with each other."

Water conservation was another area of focus. "The whole idea was to minimise the usage of water for the landscape. Additionally, we are using indigenous plants from this part of the world. They require very less water," said Esmaeil.

"We have themes in the landscape such as a botanical garden, which will feature different plants, rocks and stones from the UAE. So on the one hand, the landscape becomes educational and on the other, it minimises the usage of water," he said.

A focal part of the design is the edge between the urban fabric and the landscape. This is the moment in which architecture, infrastructure and landscape come together, with an intensification of human activity. People can walk under a shaded arcade looking at shops, or stroll along a promenade observing the landscape.

A shading device is located here composed by photovoltaic panels, which provide valuable energy to the site. "They shade the pedestrian areas and at the same time they become the solar panels. The street becomes an interactive space, which is part of our concept for social sustainability – how we make more people meet on the street," said Esmaeil. The choice of building materials is important, too, in any project, he said. "Dubai has extreme weather conditions. The heat is an important element and if you use the right material, you could increase the energy efficiency of the building," he said. "Sometimes, it is not neccesary to just use solar panels. It is best to build it right, to control the openings, to use the right kind of materials that block the heat from penetrating through the walls and so on."

Being Emirati, Esmaeil says that he has seen a sea change in the perception towards architecture. "People's perceptions towards art and architecture has changed and they are beginning to look at design. Earlier, the focus was on the commercial aspect and whether a project makes money or not," he said.

"Today, people are also talking about the design, whether it is sensitive and whether it is sustainable. This knowledge has been developed through the mass development in real estate," Esmaeil said.

The firm is doing projects in Dubai, Al Ain and Abu Dhabi. "We are also starting to do projects in the Middle East," he said.

Five years ago, Ahmed Al Ali, a new architect-entrepreneur established his own studio – X Architects – with his partner Farid Esmaeil. Ahmed is a frequent critic at the School of Design and Architecture at the American University in Sharjah, while Farid is a tutor at AUS Design Studio. Both graduated from the American University of Sharjah and are two of the founding members of the UAE Architectural Association.

"We started five years ago and our focus has always been on design-oriented projects from the inception," said Esmaeil.

The studio has worked on residential projects, showrooms, masterplanning and a floating home, among others. Their clients include Dubai Properties, Al Qudra, Dubai Holding and others.



ENERGY SAVING ESTIMATES

Drainage and grey water recycling (current estimation)

- Approximately 20 per cent reduction in overall demand for potable water resulting from installation of low water-use appliances

- Around 30 per cent reduction in the water demand for irrigation through use of sophisticated irrigation strategy

- Around 20 per cent reduction in the overall demand for potable water through the use of grey water for irrigation


Energy use and carbon emissions (current estimation)

- 20 per cent of energy for street lighting by using LED luminaries

- 20 per cent energy for white goods using energy efficient equipment

- 10 per cent of energy for ventilation and cooling by use of building management system


Applications for Renewable Energy

In the case of energy that is available intermittently (eg wind and sunlight) these applications use the energy when it is available, thus avoiding the need to store energy and, hence, the save expense of installing storage systems 

- Solar thermal energy will be used in conjunction with heat generated by CCHP plant to drive absorption chillers to cool air and water 

- Low voltage DC electricity from photovoltaics will be used for the following:

- Lighting of underground car parks (after dark DC provided via mains transformer)

- Fans driven by DC motors 

- DC motors to operate automatic blinds for shading (during day time)

- Water pumps driven by DC motors to pump irrigation water (only during day time)

- Water pumps driven by DC motors to distribute chilled water for cooling (after dark DC provided via mains transformer)

- Pumps driven by DC motors to lift water to storage tanks where it could be used as a gravity feed (only during day time) – (ie storing energy by raising water). Probably would be limited in application (and only during day time)

- Energy generated by wind turbines will be used to pump recycled grey water for irrigation system. Mains powered pumps will be used when wind-generated energy is unavailable

FACT FILE

X-Architects (Dubai) SMAQ (Berlin),

Collaborators:

Johannes Grothaus + Partners Landscape Architects (Potsdam/Dubai):

Reflexion (Zurich)

Buro Happold (London/Dubai)

Commissioner/Developer: Dubai Properties (Dubai).