The two million-square-meter Onyx Island will comprise five temporary floating hotelsand three permanent ones, an open air theater pavilion and a total of 234 villas. HOK and ABS Architects were commissioned to design the floating island in the shape of an Oryx-a white antelope indigenous to the Arabian Peninsula. The island will accommodate up to 25,000 people and transport them to sport venues by electric vehicles, water taxis and ferries.
Various artificial island projects built around the world have deeply changed the natural environment and endangered the surrounding marine life. The Persian Gulf is one of the most grievously affected areas, with recent estimates of coral reefs habitat loss said to be around 35 percent. The Oryx Island project, one of the examples of ”instant urbanism”, could affect the region’s fragile marine life, water quality and general environmental conditions.
+ Barwa Real Estate
+ HOK Architects
Via World Architecture News
