X-Architects / Nelson Garrido (photographer)
Bird view of the Visitor Centre, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
X-Architects / Nelson Garrido (photographer)
Ramp to the entrance, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
Play of light and shadow before the entrance, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
At the observation gallery at Wasit Wetland Centre, in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, the façade's glazing is slightly tilted -- to enhance reflections of the landscape for the birds while minimising reflections for people looking out. To counter the very hot desert climate, the roof is well insulated and the glass is shaded by its overhang. Rainwater harvested from the roof is discreetly directed to specific areas of the landscape via carefully placed spouts that are camouflaged by landscape elements.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden
Part of the aviary, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
Ground floor plan, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
X-Architects
The remarkably simple building has two wings. The first one contains administrative and educational spaces, while the other accommodates the observation galleries, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
X-Architects / Nelson Garrido (photographer)
The visitors can observe birds in conditions very similar to those of their natural habitat, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
The entrance offers an area for children and schoolchildren to take part in educational activities, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
The dividing wall between the galleries hides all the services and provides surface for awareness and educational material, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
The gallery was arranged in order to allow the visitors to comfortably sit, draw and take notes while they observe the surrounding landscape, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
The viewing gallery is made of continuous reflective and insulated glass shaded by an overhang. It opens on the aviaries, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
The gallery allows the visitors to have a close look at the birds, without disturbing their tranquility, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
Birds tend to come near the galleries’ glass walls, allowing visitors to get a closer look at them, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
The dividing wall between the galleries hides services and provides surface for awareness and educational material for the visitors, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
The Wasit Wetland Centre minimises its visual impact on the surroundings. The concealed visitor centre is designed to respect the healed ecosystem while imparting as much knowledge and awareness as possible. In addition, six bird hides scattered around an adjacent lake are designed for their context, and employ some recycled wood in their construction.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden
The glass walls are at a slight angle. It minimizes the sunlight glare for the viewers inside and reflects the landscape to the birds outside, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
Visitors can see inside the kitchen in which the birds’ meals are prepared, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
Large areas of the centre are dedicated to educational activities, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
Just like the kitchen, the visitors can see the inside of the incubation room, in which it is sometimes possible to witness the birth of hatchlings, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
The 200,000 sqm site underwent extensive landscaping. Only indigenous trees and plants were planted, in order to encourage various types of flora and fauna to thrive in the area, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
Part of the experience of the centre is being outdoors, where the visitors can walk or move around in golf carts to experience the wetlands, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
Unique in scale and shape, each bird hide offers the opportunity to observe the animals in their natural habitat, Wasit Wetland Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)
Wasit Wetland Centre
Award Cycle: 2017-2019 Cycle
Status: Award Recipient
Country of origin: United Arab Emirates
Location: Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Client: Environment and Protected Areas Authority, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Architect: X-Architects, Dubai, UAE
Design: 2012
Size: 200,000 m²
Completed: 2015
Part of a much larger initiative by Sharjah’s Environment and Protected Areas Agency to clean up and rehabilitate this ancient chain of wetlands along the Persian Gulf coast, the Wasit Wetland Centre aims to supply information and education about this unique environment and to encourage its preservation.
In designing the visitor centre, the architects took advantage of the site’s natural topography to minimise its visual impact by making it appear submerged into the ground. Visitors descend a ramp to arrive at an angled intersection between two linear elements of the building: one, to the sides, containing services and administrative offices; the other, ahead, a long viewing gallery flanked by aviaries where birds can be seen in their natural habitat. At the far end of the viewing gallery, a third linear element, running perpendicular, houses a café and multipurpose space with views out over the open wetlands.
A cantilevered steel truss roof over the viewing gallery avoids the need for peripheral columns, allowing seamless glazed façades. The interior is deliberately minimalistic throughout, placing the full focus on the surrounding nature: informative displays are the only adornment on the supporting central wall. The façade glazing is slightly tilted, to enhance reflections of the landscape for the birds while minimising reflections for people looking out. The floor being lower than the ground outside, a continuous concrete sill provides a place to sit and contemplate birds at their level. To counter the very hot desert climate, the roof is well insulated and the glass is shaded by its overhang. Some fabric shading is also provided over the aviaries. Rainwater harvested from the roof is discreetly directed to specific areas of the landscape via carefully placed spouts that are camouflaged by landscape elements.
Six bird hides scattered around a lake created in the middle of a 200,000m2 site follow a unified aesthetic but are each individually designed for their context, and employ some recycled wood and plastic in their construction, reinforcing the ecological message.
What had become a waste dumping ground has had its indigenous ecosystem restored, and is proving a popular place for visitors to appreciate and learn about their natural environment.
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