Foreword

The Al Wathba Wetland Reserve located 40 kilometers southeast of Abu Dhabi. Established in 1998, it is comprised of five square kilometers of wetlands, salt flats, and fossilized sands and dunes. The reserve is known for an array of plant and animal species, such as the black-winged stilt and the indigenous spiny-tailed lizard. The Al Wathba Wetland Reserve's most notable visitors are the flamingo flocks that migrate here each winter by the thousands. Flamingos stay close to salty bodies of shallow water, build their nests at the water's edges, and search for food within the water.

The Abu Dhabi Flamingo Observation Tower competition tasked participants with proposing designs for a flamingo observation platform and connecting boardwalk. Intended as a new architectural landmark for the wetlands, the platform will supplement the reserve's existing visitor experience center, network of trails, and a bird hide. The competition brief asked that the bird observation platform be limited to a floor area of 400 m² and height of 12m, that it be durable, easy to maintain, and handicapped-accessible. Modular assembly and total construction costs estimated at a limit of US $200,000 were advised.

The jury reviewed competition entries based on environmental-responsibility, energy-efficient construction methods that considered minimal excavation and limited road access given the site's remote location within the Al Wathba Wetland Reserve.

This competition is part of Bee Breeders' design competition series focused on small-scale architecture. It is run in partnership with ARCHHIVE BOOKS, which will publish a forthcoming book on the topic of small-scale architecture in 2020, as well as in partnership with the Environmental Agency of Abu Dhabi. Winning design competition entries will be considered for construction.

Bee Breeders thanks all the design competition participants. While small-scale architecture limits size, it certainly does not limit creativity. As can be seen in the entries highlighted here, demands on small-scale design also incentivize new ways of thinking about material applications and methods of construction.

COMPETITION ORGANISERS
Abu Dhabi Flamingo
Observation Tower
Official partner
Abu Dhabi Flamingo
Observation Tower

1st Prize Winner

Project name

Flamingo Dreams

As young architects/ designers, architecture vision competitions provide a good platform and opportunity for us to speculate and test different design ideas and present to a worldwide audience.

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Authors Bryan Fan, Shelley Xu,
Country Australia

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

Al Wathba Birdwalk

We treat competitions as the vehicle for testing lines of research currently being developed within the studio. We target specific subjects that help us expand our portfolios and where we can implement our research in complex geometries and sustainable design.

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3rd Prize Winner

Project name

The Cube

Conceptual architecture, even if not built, expresses the direction of our society and how we envision our future. Participating in conceptual architecture competitions offers the opportunity to escape from the strict limitations that a real commission carries and allow for exploring freely new ideas. Furthermore, they often give architects the opportunity to expand their experience and portfolio on non-conventional projects that extend internationally beyond the regions of a country.

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Authors Rafail Gkaidatzis, Panagiotis Dimakidis,
Country Netherlands

BB STUDENT AWARD

Project name

Hiden paradise

Two points. Firstly, it is a rare opportunity for me to think in different ways from the normal work in school. Secondly, I am pretty interested in designing the flamingo observation tower.

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Authors Min Liu,
Country China
+74 points Buildner University Rankings

BB GREEN AWARD

Project name

Rift in the desert

In real projects, there are a lot of factors that limit the designer, such as municipal plans, governmental procedures, clientele’s budget, etc. You have little chance to implement what you imagine. In this respect, competitions are a platform which set the designers free. In this ambiance, the designer could show his own style easily and force his limitations.

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Authors Kadir Öztürk, Emrah Kuşener, Gamze Sümer,
Country Turkey

Honorable Mentions

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Project name

The catwalk

Company Turilia
Authors Christian Sleiman, Amanda Kassab, Ranine Achkar, Elie Abi Sejaan
Country Lebanon
Project name

Al Wathba Flamingo Observation Pavilion

Authors Bryce Jarman, Kael Samake, Megan Baker, Stephen Travers
Country Canada
Project name

Geoglyph

Authors Mateusz Bartczak,
Country Norway
Project name

Nest

Company Nudes
Country India
Project name

ROCK-SAND

Authors Julia Shemchuk,
Country Ukraine
Project name

Arish

Company Unanime
Authors Pierre Sfeir, Sayed Al Meshqab, Zainab Khalil, Darwin Cavaneyro,
Country France

Shortlisted projects

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Something

Markus Wendén

Sweden

Hiden paradise

Min Liu

China

Peæk

Andreas Siegmund

Julian Sillem

Su Kim

Germany

The Cube

Rafail Gkaidatzis

Panagiotis Dimakidis

Netherlands

Mimesis Tower

Antonio Hevia

Cristobal Ossa

Cristian Cruz

Camila Valdes

Universidad Andrés Bello

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Chile

Nature Only

Luciano Antonietti

Fiorini Alice

Mercolli Lino

Switzerland

Black Box

Denisse nicole Oñate rivas

Marcelo jonatan Honores pizarro

Fabián enrique Gaete hidalgo

Universidad Andrés Bello

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Chile

Dualism: Industrial and Natural Dialogue

Ruiqi Dong

Sining Guo

Yujie Jia

Siyu Chen

China

"NEST"

Georgi Georgiev

Atanas Nanov

Biserka Georgieva

"ABI PROJECTS" LTD

Bulgaria

Flamingo Observation Tower Abu Dhabi

Harty and harty Harty

Annabelle Harty

Aran Chadwick

Olive Harty

United Kingdom

Dunes Tower

Ahmed Ali

Mohamed Abd el moez

Egypt

Arish

Pierre Sfeir

Sayed Al Meshqab

Zainab Khalil

Darwin Cavaneyro

Unanime

France

Nest

Nuru Karim

Dhruval Shah

Aditya Jain

Salai V

Nudes

India

INTERLOCK

Nam Vu

Saif Aletriby

ECOLE NATIONALE D'ARCHITECTURE DE NANTES

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
France

Taconeo Tower

Shada Elmagri

Kamal Abouzayan

Badredin Ammar

DERAZ

Libya

The Skywatcher

Tilman Heller

Ulises Contreras

Germany

Flamingo Dreams

Bryan Fan

Shelley Xu

Australia

Rethinking Observation: Observation as Multi-Sensory Experience

Mazen Fawaz

Khaled Al-bashir

Jordan

bion

Veljko Vulanovic

University of Montenegro

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Montenegro

Abu Dhabi Flamingo Observation Tower

Bashar Bitar

Nemer Bitar

Abdel rahman Bitar

Anas Bitar

Jordan

Al Wathba Flamingo Observation Pavilion

Bryce Jarman

Kael Samake

Megan Baker

Stephen Travers

R.H. Carter Architects Inc.

Canada

AL WATHBA MARSH TOWER

Alfonso Lopez

Stefan Vittori

Alex Nunes

United States

The Pinfold

David Rooth

Tiziano Fabrizio

United States

The Rising Spine

Jawan Fakhoury

Nadine Abdulsalam

Lebanon

Eye of the storm

Hussein Chith

Stefania Dinea

Robert Granstam

Alexander Stark

Sweden

THE FLYING-CANOPY

Abigail Benouaich

Reut Fadel avinadav

Safy Barar

United Kingdom

Iridescent Tower- Abu Dhabi’s Flamingo Observation

Laura Garofalo

Omar Khan

Jason Green

Jelani Lowe

United States

A BILL-DING-BOARD

Juan Sala

Douglas Harsevoort

Sala Hars

United States

Al Wathba Birdwalk

Natalia Wrzask

Rolando Rodriguez Leal

José Luis Mulás

Paola Barrenechea

AIDIASTUDIO

United Kingdom

Rift in the desert

Kadir Öztürk

Emrah Kuşener

Gamze Sümer

Turkey

MICRO: Potential of Microbial Cellulose in Architectural Design

Karolina Bloch

Chalmers University of Technology / Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Poland

ROCK-SAND

Julia Shemchuk

Ukraine

Inspired by nature

Andre Braun

Australia

Geoglyph

Mateusz Bartczak

Norway

The Wingspan Watchtower

Georgi Todorov

Petya Petrova

United States

The catwalk

Christian Sleiman

Amanda Kassab

Ranine Achkar

Elie Abi Sejaan

Turilia

Lebanon

Abu Dhabi Flamingo Observation Tower

Nadia Kasko

United States

ABU DHABI FLAMINGO OBSERVATION TOWER

Gleb Rybakov

Russian Federation

Yichen Zhai

Jimmy He

Australia