Foreword

The Al Wathba Wetland Reserve, located south-east of central Abu Dhabi, was declared a protected area in 1998. The 5km² reserve is home to some 260 species of birds and other wildlife, including shrimp, scorpions, and lizards. Each autumn through spring, a wave of 4000 pink flamingos flock to the reserve, where they breed and spend the cooler winter months.

The Abu Dhabi Environment Agency (EAD) oversees the conservation of this special habitat. It manages a rehabilitation program that has, among other things, planted native trees to form a protective barrier around the reserve. The EAD also regulates the amount of water that enters the wetlands from a nearby water treatment plant.

Following the success of the Flamingo Observation Tower competition, the Abu Dhabi Flamingo Visitor Center challenge is the second Bee Breeders competition set in the Al Wathba Wetland Reserve in partnership with the EAD. The EAD will consider winning proposals for construction.

Competition participants were tasked with submitting concepts for a new visitor center, designed in balance with Al Wathba’s unique natural environment. The visitor center is to be programmed with facilities including an information center, cafe, terrace, souvenir shop, display area for specimens, training center, toilets, and a car park.

The jury sought designs with sustainability and constructability in mind. Above all, the designs were judged positively if they showed respect for the reserve’s fragile ecosystem. The visitor center is to be both a subtle building in harmony with its context, as well as an iconic architectural landmark.

Bee Breeders thanks all the competition participants. This particular competition received an especially strong collection of proposals submitted from around the world. The winning and shortlisted entries below are evidence of a wide array of material and programmatic investigations, as well as excellent visual and communicative drawing techniques.

COMPETITION ORGANISERS
Abu Dhabi Flamingo
Visitor Center
Official partner
Abu Dhabi Flamingo
Visitor Center

1st Prize Winner

Project name

To see and not to be seen

We have been participating in competitions that we consider challenging and that focus on content as well as architectural design.

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Country Czech Republic

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

Incubator

We see architectural competition as an excellent opportunity to broaden our perspective. It offers us the chance to experience and learn from different cultures, to evolve our ideas, to gain a better understanding of the relationship between humans and architecture.

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Authors Wenqi Huang, Yi Yan
Country United States

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

THE DUNE

We believe regenerative architecture and sustainable design will be a key aspect in the formation of future generations of architects and users of architecture.

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Country Mexico

BB STUDENT AWARD

Project name

Well-balanced

This is a chance to create an interesting concept not defined by money. And besides, this is a good opportunity to present our solutions to the many problems with which the world today is measured.

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Client Favorite +
BB GREEN AWARD

Project name

VERNACULAR 2.0

I participate in architecture vision competitions to compete with talented people from all over the world. This particular mind-set challenges your ability to develop conceptual approaches and strengthens your ability to communicate your proposal.

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Author Florent Sauvineau
Country France

Honorable Mentions

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Project name

The Feather Cloud

Authors Sebastian Feldmann, Thomas Filke, Leon Brohmann, Philipp Brummer
Country Germany
Project name

Nest Within

Company Paradigm DH
Country Jordan
Project name

Flamingo Visitor Center

Authors Alicja Nowak, Maciej Rodak, Yaroslav Panasevych
Country Poland
+72 points Buildner University Rankings
Project name

Horizontal Landscapes

Country United Kingdom
Project name

Flamingo Visitor Center

Author Hilla Havkin
Country Israel
Project name

A HELIX INTO THE HORIZON

Authors Abdelrahman Adel, Abdallah Mekkawi
Country Egypt

Shortlisted projects

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OASIS

Yongmin Ye

Cheuk yiu Tang

Jamie david Wong

Alejandra leon de gante

Carleton University [Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism]

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Canada

The Oasis at the Al Wathba Wetland Reserve

Nader Wallerich

Nazanin Izadi

United States

Nest Within

Saja Nashashibi

Paradigm DH

Jordan

THE DUNE

Laurent Herbiet

Giordana Rojas

Mexico

Horizontal Landscapes

Yonatan Buchhandler

Valerio Nelli

United Kingdom

GET LOST IN THE WOODS

Mevlut cihan Alkan

Ahmet serdar Aydın

Turkey

Flamingo Visitor Center

Alicja Nowak

Maciej Rodak

Yaroslav Panasevych

Cracow University of Technology

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
Poland

Flamingo Visitor Centre

Balint Iszak

Csenge Gyorgyi

New Zealand

Gateway to Al Wathba Reserve

Charlie Kentish

Benjamin Hale

Oliver Mould

United Kingdom

Flock

Ahmad Nouraldeen

Luca Fraccalvieri

Haya Safadi

Aya Meskawi

Lebanon

Elegant white tower

Xu Li

Dean Li

Wei Li

China

The Modern Areesh

Jing zhi Tay

Lisa Koswara

Kenneth Tung

Inez Ow

Singapore

Flamboyant Shelter

Mohammed Adib

Spain

Incubator

Wenqi Huang

Yi Yan

United States

Frame Work

David Bradford

Austin Corriher

Alex McMillan

Paul Fox

310 Architecture + Interiors

United States

Umbrella Forest

Magdalena Nicolas

Nicolás Garza

Uruguay

ZIGZAG

Toshiki Hirano

Japan

Fluttering Landscapes

Sabine Aoun

Andrea Jimenez bonifaz

Rodrigo Escardó cuglievan

United Arab Emirates

The Feather Cloud

Sebastian Feldmann

Thomas Filke

Leon Brohmann

Philipp Brummer

Germany

Abu Dhabi Flamingo Visitor Center

Gilles Willem

Tim Belaen

Justine Byltiauw

Belgium

OASIS

Sebastian Larriva

Paul Santacruz

Ecuador

Flamingo Visitor Center

Hilla Havkin

Israel

Al Wathba Flamingo Visitor Center

Polpipat Naksawat

Teerakan Wattanayon

Ratasakon Chantaluxsul

Thailand

Well-balanced

Kinga Gawlik

Piotr Rajewski

Zachodniopomorski Uniwersytet Technologiczny w Szczecinie

+74 points Buildner University Rankings!
Poland

The Yardang

Haipng (heffrence) Teow

Singapore

CRIMSON WING

Sarah Mousavi

Ainaz Babaki

Hamidreza Malekian

Hosna Gharini

Kouman

Iran

ADFVC_Flamingo Deconstruct

Thomas Roen

Denmark

Concrete Flamingo

Alexander Rekhlitskiy

Kyiv national university of construction and architecture

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Ukraine

A HELIX INTO THE HORIZON

Abdelrahman Adel

Abdallah Mekkawi

Egypt

Abu Dhabi Flamingo Visitor Center

Zsuzsanna Ötvös

Alex Quintus

Zoltán jános Kocsis

Dániel Silló

Obuda Epitesz Studio Kft.

Hungary

Slightly Off

Frederic Champagne

Bao tram Quach

Canada

viewing circle

Radosław Domżoł

Marzena Kądziołka

Jakub Jedynak

Poland

VERNACULAR 2.0

Florent Sauvineau

France

Carmen Canamero

Germany

Nesting Grounds

Binh Mai

Australia

To see and not to be seen

Petr Janda

Anna Podroužková

Kateřina Tšponová

Czech Republic

Storytime

Ariel Koltun-fromm

United States

Wood Wave

Hugo Rebelo

Francisca Penteado

Portugal

FLAMINGO DUNE

Katerina Pavlou

Kyrkos pavlos Giannakopoulos

Cyprus

Al-Wathba Flamingo Visitor Center

Guillaume Dachy

Delphine Isart

Soba - south belleville architecture

France