SCUP Excellence in Planning for a District or Campus Component, Honor Award

Abu Dhabi University Education Park, Abu Dhabi, UAE and Sasaki Associates, Inc., Waterton, MA

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Abu Dhabi University Education Park (ADUEP) is a component of Abu Dhabi University’s (ADU) mission to provide an educated and technology savvy workforce to meet the demands of Abu Dhabi’s burgeoning economy. The plan is a mixed-use environment of research & development labs, business incubators, offices, retail and residential units in a 24-hour pedestrian friendly environment. 

Maximizing connection to the surrounding community requires that the plan provide solutions for two different site conditions: it is at the edge of a large expanse of open desert, and it must create a gateway to what will become the seat of government for the United Arab Emirates. 

The team of landscape architects, urban designers, and architects collaborated with the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC). The urban designers developed a framework for the future Capital District. The landscape architects researched strategies for a closed loop water system to support anticipated open spaces. The architects developed a construction strategy to place parking beneath the buildings, avoid the high saline water table, and extrude the structural grid upwards to define a modular strategy for the buildings above. These collaborative ideas resulted in a fully integrated plan where all systems and spaces are weaved together to create one vision.

The phasing strategy of the plan allows each phase to complete one piece of the larger plan, providing a sense of completion for each phase, eliminating the sense of a half completed project, or a project constantly under construction. 

Local materials were chosen that refer to historic typologies, require low maintenance, and are easy to fabricate and install. The primary materials are stone for landscape walls and building skin, steel for structural elements, wood for sunscreens, and glass. 

Water consumption reduction results from the closed loop black and grey water recycling system and water temperatures are lower due to the close spacing of buildings and strategic use of sun canopies. 

Different program types create a vibrant mixed-use environment with active street edges, concealed parking and service zones, and shared community facilities strategically located to activate the central public space and courtyards within each block. A future light rail line along the northeast edge will link ADUEP and its mass transit to city wide mass transit. 

The jury said, “ . . . a very thoughtful presentation . . . loved the way they laid the program into the graphic . . . really effective . . . you can see how each level builds upon itself to create a successful plan . . . very rich concept.”

Project Team: Abu Dhabi University Education Park and Sasaki Associates, Inc.