Gulf Construction Online - Bahrain park splashes out

Leisure Facilities

Bahrain park splashes out

Set to open its doors to visitors shortly, the Wahooo! Waterpark in Bahrain – with its thrilling water rides – is already the talk of the town.

01 August 2009

WAHOOO! Waterpark Bahrain, the Middle East’s first climate-controlled indoor and outdoor Waterpark built on top of the biggest mall in the country, is set to enthral visitors once it opens after Ramadan.
Covering over 15,000 sq m within Bahrain City Centre in Seef district, the facility, being developed by Majid Al Futtaim Leisure, offers numerous thrilling rides along with other first-class amenities such as a restaurant, large party rooms and Wave Pro, the retail outlet selling swimming apparel and souvenir merchandise. Work on the project started in August last year and its opening is expected soon. The water park can be accessed directly from the mall at the second floor, with the entrance being next to the mall’s main food court and Magic Planet.
Speaking about the concept behind developing such a project, Damien Latham, general manager, Wahooo! says: “The indoor-outdoor waterpark is set in a tropical island-inspired ambiance. The concept is to give Bahrain City Centre a totally unique leisure offering, which it undoubtedly does. It will also support the wider tourism within Bahrain.”
The water park has more than 10 different rides and slides with varied levels of intensity. The outdoor area features two major thrill rides.
“The first is a four-lane mat-racer slide, which shoots you down a 15-m-tall tower with a high-speed tube-enclosed descent. The second, which is the highlight of the park, is a spectacular surfing machine, a wave-producing sensation that can create a 3-m-high static, curling breaker. This state-of-the-art Flowrider will enable a perfect inshore hang ten experience, and skilled users will be able to showcase their surfing talents, wowing the spectators and diners on the surrounding terraces,” he explains.
The outdoor area also has a number of gentler slides like the Lazy River, Tot’s Pool, Rain Fortress and Wave Pool as well as some smaller pools, and the surfing machine can also be set to slower speeds to provide the perfect platform for children and adults to practice body boarding.
Dining facilities include The Boardwalk, a casual dining restaurant with indoor and outdoor terrace seating overlooking the Flowrider. A snack and coffee bar will be set within a majestic schooner offering panoramic views of Wahooo!
Construction of the first indoor/outdoor water park in the Middle East was a challenge in itself, says Latham.
“This required specialist knowledge, and then it was to be built 20 m high on top of a mall. This brings about a huge logistical hurdle coupled with a huge design challenge in terms of supporting millions and millions of litres of water. The calculations on the structure had to be meticulous,” he says.
Specifications for all the essential MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) services were obtained from the market-leading companies linked to the indoor waterpark industry and were integrated in the overall design. Consultants from all over the world contributed to the project to make it possible.
“Sim Leisure is the main contractor whereas Shankland Cox is the project architect. Aqua Leisure International is the contractor for rides and slides and filtration, while Mace is the project manager,” he adds.
Temperature at Wahooo! is controlled at 30 deg C all year around, through HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) units supplied by Menerga, which specialises in the indoor waterpark market.
“It is projected that the units will regenerate up to 24,000 litres per day of condensate water from the humidity, which implies that the water park will have huge water savings with energy savings to match,” Latham points out.
Safety is an important feature that has been given due diligence. “There is a fully-integrated alarm installed at every guard position and CCTVs (closed-circuit televisions) are installed for the rides and the park in general.
A fully-integrated building management system (BMS) controlling everything from HVAC through to water treatment is essential to the overall guest experience. This is an IT-related resource to ensure all of the key MEP services are controlled and monitored. This in turn ensures that energy management is maximised and operational control can be tightened,” says Latham.
Another important aspect is privacy.
“Once inside, people cannot be seen from the outside, allowing guests to enjoy themselves while simultaneously ensuring that we respect the culture of Bahrain. We have taken into account the cultural challenges and aim to provide family-based entertainment in the park,” he adds.
Users can avail of the 5,000 covered car-parking spaces within the Bahrain City Centre parking.
Majid Al Futtaim Leisure is part of Majid Al Futtaim Group. Established in 1992, the Dubai-based group has successfully brought groundbreaking concepts of shopping malls and hypermarkets to the region. It has been at the forefront of tourism destinations and ground-breaking retail projects for over a decade. Its Bahrain City Centre project – covering 1.5 million sq ft – has proved a massive hit with international and GCC visitors to the kingdom.