Muscat Town
A rather flat valley, bordered by dense palm trees, forms the site for this luxury housing development, situated in Muscat, Oman. The forest frames and protects the site on three sides, and only opens up to the south, where the valley is accessed by a street.
The local building culture, favoring the courtyard housing model was adapted in a design where all units have private gardens or terraces as if they are individually embedded in nature. The complex, 750,000sf, offers apartments with access to communal amenities such as a central commercial piazza, serviced apartments, home offices and a hotel.
Each block, composed of four fragmented volumes (townhouses) is arranged in a loose pattern, creating a common courtyard at the center and terraces on higher floors that are linked with bridges.
Based on Omani traditional housing, an exterior skin of wooden slats protects the privacy of the residents and offer shade. This skin retracts in upper floors, depending on the interior functions, sunlight and specific conditions of the site, creating a volumetric dance. The screens are folding-sliding elements that can be controlled by the residents.
The buildings are made of in-situ concrete, and treated with local stone which is also used in the interiors.
It all begins with the exploration of possibilities.
The town houses run along inner streets connecting to the piazza to the center. The scheme unifies the three distinct typologies - villas, townhouses and apartments into one coherent whole by finding a similar architectural language throughout, defined by the size of a living unit and the consistent use of local natural stone cladding. The townhouses and apartments step in plan, emphasizing their individual character.
The townhouses define a new street along the periphery. They step from three storeys on the street front, to two storeys at the rear. Each town house has a garden and a semi-private terrace.
The four to eight storey apartment buildings contain smaller rental flats and a hotel with served apartments creating a new town center around the piazza.
scale model - view of the central piazza
scale model - view of the town
scale model - view from the inner streets
The result is a scheme with a strong sculptural form that also responds in key ways to its surroundings.
