Leading designers, architects, engineers and landscape architects will be presenting their creative ideas on how to improve outdoor thermal comfort in public spaces at the “Cool Abu Dhabi” competition, being hosted by Abu Dhabi's Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) with prize money worth $100,000. 

 

The key focus of the global creative ideas competition is to improve outdoor thermal comfort in public spaces by mitigating the impact of the Urban Heat Island Effect in the city. 

 

Outdoor thermal comfort conditions influence several choices that inhabitants make every single day - to walk to a local shop, take public transit, cycle, eat outside at a restaurant, talk with colleagues, friends, and neighbors or simply go to a park, said experts. 

 

One of the critical issues in designing outdoor spaces is considering human thermal comfort, they stated. 

 

Making people more comfortable allows them to enjoy and spend more time in outdoor spaces and be a part of a thriving city. Improved thermal comfort in public spaces not only results in less time spent indoors and consequently, reduced energy consumption but also valuable outcomes emerge such as wellness, enjoyment, and safety. 

 

It helps develop a sense of belonging, an identity for the design and increases peoples’ level of satisfaction.

 

For an extreme climate such as Abu Dhabi’s, the harsh conditions felt across significant months of the year certainly reduce the feasibility of such external activities taking place. It restricts peoples’ choices and impacts subsequent health outcomes, said the experts.

 

According to DMT, the Cool Abu Dhabi contest is open to all; but is specifically looking for designers, architects, engineers, landscape architects, material scientists, educators, researchers, students, artists and/or inter-disciplinary teams from across the globe, to contribute. 

 

The DMT, alongside industry-leading experts in sustainable design and architecture, will select 10 of the most original and innovative design ideas for public spaces that will help minimise the impact of climate change, or new design methodologies that attempt to reduce the urban heat island effect in a prototypical public spaces in the emirate. 

 

The winning entries will represent the most original and innovative ideas that attempt to reduce Heat Island Effect in a prototypical urban site in Abu Dhabi through design interventions or material and scientific innovations, it stated. 

 

Entries are not limited to architectural design interventions and are encouraged to work across scales, technologies, systems, and materials, it added.

 

Mohamed Al Khadar Al Ahmed, Executive Director of the Strategic Affairs Sector at the DMT, said: "As part of our Ghadan 21 efforts to support sustainable urbanization and climate intervention in public spaces, I am delighted to invite innovative thinkers from around the world to submit their designs to the “Cool Abu Dhabi” competition."

 

"Entrants are invited to produce climate remediation solutions by submitting designs that demonstrate a high-level understanding of innovative engineering and science," he added.-TradeArabia News Service