Jubail Mangrove Park Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
To keep the architectural interventions to a minimum and put the natural landscape at the centre of the experience, our concept utilises only three design elements: A visitor centre, boardwalks and learning nodes. Rather than limiting learning elements to the visitor centre, spreading them along the boardwalk as varying learning nodes activates the entire Mangrove Park. This helps create diverse learning experiences directly related to the ever-changing landscape along the paths.
Estimated to cover more than 150 km2 of the UAE’s coastline, the mangroves form one of the region’s most important and distinctive landscapes. Containing approx. As home to 75% of the UAE's total mangrove forest area, Jubail Mangrove Park plays an important role in enhancing awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the ecological functions of mangrove habitats. The mangrove’s unique ecosystem not only provides shelter and foraging to a variety of avian and marine species native to Abu Dhabi, but also protects coastal areas from erosion by creating a buffer zone, filtering, and pacifying tidal flows.
Learning from the landscape
CEBRA’s design for the park project aims to make the mangroves accessible to the public and to provide differentiated learning and leisure experiences, while minimising impact on the delicate ecosystem. In line with the design philosophy of creating subtle and gentle interventions, the educational nodes feature a few impactful storytelling elements integrated into the boardwalk. By distributing most of the learning elements along the route through the mangrove, the visitor centre’s size and impact on the landscape are minimised. The boardwalk meanders through the forest, where possible, to make sure no trees need to be felled. The entire structure, the visitor centre, the boardwalk and the nodes are constructed using untreated timber. As it ages, the patina will make these man-made components harmonise with the colours of nature.
The platforms are designed as natural extensions of the boardwalk, as “intensified” areas that build on the design variations already integrated into the boardwalk system. Our concept includes seven learning nodes, each designed to convey distinct themes related to mangroves, such as tidal movement, underwater life, distinctive mangrove roots, and traditional salt extraction.
