Naturally cooling hot cities.
Space-by-space and citywide.

The natureculture way

Think hot cities can’t be greener, cooler?

Think again.

Trees are the key. Trees shade streets, cool urban spaces, improve air quality, and create places people love. But thriving urban forests don’t happen by accident—so what does it take to create them?

You need a specific set of skills to design tree-rich urban spaces that flourish. Design and technical know-how, with a deep understanding of hot-arid conditions.

More about the NatureCulture way…

Dubai One Central

Wild urban gardens create calm and relaxing spaces in an inner city business district. 

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The Founders Memorial

A forest of native trees creates a tranquil inner city space for reflection and contemplation.

Emirates Hills Park

Rambunctious gardens and free play allow kids to let loose in an overly ordered world. 

Nature-Based Solutions

Nature-Based Solutions?

Let’s not complicate things. In a nutshell, nature-based solutions rely on up to five key elements—soil, water, plants, time, and systems.

In hot-humid-dry lands, these elements must address unique challenges of climate and urban contexts. All five elements combined deliver greener, cooler, more biodiverse cities.

More about soil, water, plants, time and systems…..

Royal Opera House Muscat

Cultured gardens create relaxing strolling gardens for culture-lovers at the Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman. 

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The Majlis Oman

Tree gardens create shaded, cool and human-scaled spaces surrounded by monumental architecture.

Muscat Jebel Park

Designing with a steep site creates opportunities for communal pocket parks on a mountainside in Muscat. 

We think and we do...

Maximise benefits of sustainably available water

In the desert cities of the Gulf, you might think we should minimise water use. When you know the region you will understand that maximising the benefits of available water is the more sustainable approach.
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The Makers District tree gardens

Towers cast shade. In Abu Dhabi that sounds like a good thing, and for people it is. For trees it is a problem. Too dark for trees, too hot for people. At the Makers District, that paradox changed how we planted.
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A campus that irrigates itself

Sohar University wanted a green campus on a coast where the water table is falling and seawater is moving in behind it. The answer was not to use the local water more carefully. It was to leave it alone entirely, and irrigate the campus from its own wastewater.
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Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Muscat

Four days in Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Muscat. A site with environmental problems and a poor public reputation. A toy goat that bleats. Fifteen-year-old trees finally shading a pavement in midsummer. And the case for appointing expertise before writing the scope.
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Shade It Like You Mean It

Conventional shadow studies fix on the solstices and equinox — dates set by the calendar, not by climate. This guide shows how to get real value from the analysis, with a sample brief developers can issue: study the shoulder seasons, matched to how people use each space.
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Italian build part one

It started with tapware — solid brass, handmade by a British metalworker in Italy's tap-making heartland around Lake Orta. That find opened a door onto a network of artisans working metal by hand. Together, custom design and craft pared the finishes down into a modern take on the Tuscan farmhouse, set in the city.
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