These villas on the northern shore of the United Arab Emirates’ Jumeirah Bay island were designed to incorporate green spaces, sustainable landscaping and eco-friendly materials—setting a new standard for how future developments can reduce impact on the island’s ecological health, according to the project team.

Constructing the villas on a retaining wall required collaboration with marine consultants, innovative piling techniques and advanced simulation modeling, with barges used to complete work on the waterside of the villas.

”To meet Dubai municipality green building regulations, we implemented the Triple R approach: reduce, reuse, recycle to minimize environmental impact with regular meetings and workshops, focusing on energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor environmental quality and sustainable materials,” the team shared.

Photo courtesy Khatib & Alami

Outside, water-saving fixtures with specific flow rates and a drip irrigation system for landscaping with low water-demand plants minimize evaporation and runoff. Additionally, Internet of Things technology monitors external air quality, humidity, noise and temperature to optimize conditions inside the villas, keep occupants comfortable and adjust energy use. An air-handling unit, achieving 70% sensible load recovery efficiency and 40% cooling load reduction, boosts indoor air quality while high-performance MERV 13 filters and electronically commutated motors add 30% more energy savings, the submission says.

An airtight insulated envelope helps reduce energy use and maintain greater temperature control inside the villas.
Photo courtesy Khatib & Alami

Additionally, the application of computational fluid dynamics optimized thermal comfort in spaces with extensive glass facades, addressing high-temperature hotspots.

Employing more than 700 skilled workers, the project’s use of BIM technology ensured overall success, streamlining communication across multidisciplinary teams and reducing site issues, RFIs and cost variations, the team says. Safety measures included specialized underwater construction training, floating platform safety and regular site inspections.