Too dark for trees, too hot for people

Towers cast shade. In Abu Dhabi that sounds like a good thing, and for people it is. For trees it is a problem. A cluster of towers leaves the ground in shadow for most of the year, with too little light for a tree to grow well. The same ground is still hot at midday. Too dark for trees, too hot for people.

The Makers District

At the Makers District on Al Reem Island in Abu Dhabi, MVRDV designed seven towers around a plaza. We designed the public realm between them, on structure over a basement.

The programme was an interesting mix. It had to hold temporal events, exhibitions and markets, the things a community wants. It was also where residents would spend their ordinary days, so it had to be comfortable, pleasant, and at a human scale.

The problem with a single tree

In low light, tree canopies grow thin, weak in mass and volume. There are cases where it is better to plant no tree at all than one that will look thin or stunted, because a tree like that works against the space rather than for it.

Tree gardens

We stopped planting individual trees. Low light is the condition of a forest, and it shapes the way trees grow. The solution here is to emulate the forest.

We planted tree gardens: tight groups set close together, so the trees draw upward toward the light and combine into a mass that no single tree would reach. Together they shade the ground, and we detailed beneath them so that people can use that shade at midday.

Below the ground plane

Beneath the ground plane we cultivated conditions for tree root growth: soil cells, aeration, subsurface irrigation, and a layer that captures stormwater from the tower roofs and feeds it back by capillary action. Below ground conditions are as close as possible to natural conditions.

The outcome

The spaces are beautiful, thanks to the systems and thanks to nature. At ground level, people sit under foliage with the architecture behind it. From the apartments above, residents look down onto pockets of forest canopy instead of an entire concrete landscape.

The markets and the exhibitions have somewhere to happen, and so does an ordinary weekday afternoon. This is the kind of vibrant space that draws young professionals and creatives, anyone who values the quality of the outdoor environment.

The team

The success of every project we do is a team effort. Nigel Craddock, as design manager for the developer, brought a keen insight into how urban space functions. Ali Amiri led the consultant team on behalf of Ramboll, and brought the full weight of all disciplines to bear for more sustainable solutions.

Laith Wark is a founding partner of NatureCulture, and led living systems and placemaking for the Pixel, Makers District.