The Hudayriyat Mar Vista project merges sports, leisure, dining, and heritage exploration on an island site once home to Arabian pearl divers.

The landscape-led attraction offers a captivating, immersive and relaxing experience against a backdrop of tranquil sea views out to the Arabian Gulf. Split into three areas, the site is geared towards young adults and families with its residential leisure, adventure sports and archaeological interpretation and discovery amenities.

The journey begins at the Hudayriyat Bridge, which leads visitors on a 1.4km track past coastal planting beds to the entrance where the landmark climbing wall of the Sports Village acts as an inviting beacon.

Sports Village

The high-end sports facilities tie into the existing coastal cycle trails and are designed to minimise local environmental disturbance. A rustic and informal aesthetic is in-keeping with the natural coastal environment. Promoting an active lifestyle, the village offers an aqua park, skate park, obstacle course, climbing wall, indoor and outdoor MUGAs and jogging trails as well as non-motorised water sports.

Back to Nature

The Bab Al Nojoum beach-front residential leisure destination features shaded ‘pocket spaces’. Palm trees, barasti shade structures, cabanas, beach-inspired artwork and community campfires and BBQ pits contribute to the ‘back to nature’ theme and provide opportunities for groups to share in the ocean views, natural greenery, and social atmosphere.

Coastal Heritage Walk

In contrast to the adventure zone, the ‘Walk of Life’ heritage trail is a preserved site of important archaeological remains including bronze age pottery and coastal middens. These collections of oyster shells and bones left over from historic meals show evidence of past pearl fishers while dugong and shark remains demonstrate the presence of the rich marine life upon which the communities depended.

A collection of sensitively designed visitor amenities including an interpretation centre with facilities for schools, shaded information nodes, sculptural interventions and boardwalks provide access to experiential storytelling. The trail provides opportunity for leisurely strolls along the shoreline amongst sculptural focal points and informative displays about the site’s history. As visitors reach the loop’s midpoint, an outdoor café invites relaxation and rejuvenation amidst the palm trees from which to admire the sea.

A light-touch approach to the landscape design throughout involved using natural organic materials that appeared to grow out of the landscape – reclaimed wood, jute rope, stone, crushed gravel and corten steel. The native coastal planting palette helps the project to blend seamlessly with the natural coastline whilst the stone mulches protect the site from wind-blown erosion.

Sustainability Strategy

The landscape design prioritises sustainability, drawing on international best practice and local Estidama guidelines. Use of an automatic irrigation system using TSE supply combined with the drought tolerant native planting palette reduces water demand significantly. Site grading allows storm water to infiltrate into planted areas and tree placement has been designed to enhance thermal comfort via canopy shading.

A Memorable Experience

The vision for Hudayriyat Island is one of escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, creating memorable experiences to be had communing with nature and our past in an oasis of relaxation and exclusivity.

Project Data

Landscape architecture: Cracknell

Project location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Year completed: 2022
Manufacturer of urban or play equipment: Gebal Group (Sports and Play Equipment)
Photo credits: Alessandro Merati / Copyright Cracknell, Gebal Group

The Streetview may show the condition before the intervention