New Downtown includes plazas, pools and promenades that creates a beautiful and functional framework to the just unveiled Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Some 15 million gallons of water a year will be recycled from the tower’s cooling equipment for the extensive landscaping that extends throughout its surrounding, also called Downtown Burj Dubai.
The landscape plan included a complete redesign of the 3.5 kilometers length of Emaar Boulevard that connects all major Dubai destinations including the Burj. The tree-lined streets and pedestrian-friendly adjacent commercial areas are intended to establish a world-class street on par with the Champs-Elysees, Park Avenue or the Ramblas.
All site furnishings, from railings to benches and signs, incorporate the abstract imagery of the spider Lily and other patterns from nature on the tower footprint, true to the historic traditions of the region’s architecture and design. The landscape utilized an abundance of indigenous shade trees that provide comfort and visual interest.
Following a design theme of ‘A Tower in a Park,’ the landscaping of Burj Khalifa has distinct divisions that serve the tower’s hotel, residential, spa and corporate office areas. In addition to lush greenery, each of the entrances to the tower has its own special water feature adding to the visual beauty of the Park with its sound and effects.
Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, said, “The design of the Park is also inspired by the core design concepts of Burj Khalifa, based on the symmetries of the desert flower, Hymenocalis, and regional motifs.”
At the core of the Park design is a ‘water room’ located at the base of the tower and defined by walls of dancing jets and pools. Fountains, palm-fringed walkways and flowering trees line the base with special entry roads leading to the hotel and residential arrival courts. Each walkway has an assorted mix of flowering trees, green shrubs and ground covers.
Tightly spaced double rows of date palms create shade and scale, and extend as a green colonnade towards the Emaar Boulevard. The plants used for landscaping include a choice of evergreen ficuses and cassias. Royal Poincianas, with their trademark bright red blooms, decorate the center of the tower base. Acacias, Yellow Elders and Chaste trees add to the shrub and ground cover. Splashes of bougainvillea, white colored flowers, concentric hedges of Carissa, low growing vines, several exotic succulents including aloes and agaves add to the allure of the park.
Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM), the Chicago-based architects who designed Burj Khalifa, worked closely with SWA on the design effort. WET, the designers of The Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing fountain, developed the park’s six water features. Joining the core team were Fisher Marantz Stone (lighting), Speirs & Major (festival lighting), Sinclair Knight Merz (security systems), Pelton Marsh Kinsella International (acoustics and ELV systems), Square Peg Design (signage), Hyder Consulting (civil and structural design) and Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (the gatehouses and Armani/Pavilion).
