Students in Texas A&M University’s architecture and landscape architecture programs have developed design concepts for a hospital/resort in one of the world’s most unique locations — a series of man-made islands off the coast of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The designs will be unveiled 11:30 a.m. Friday, April 25 at HKS Inc.’s offices located at 1919 McKinney Ave. in downtown Dallas.
For the project, “Destination Healthcare: A Sustainable Resort and Hospital,” 31 students and faculty members collaborated with design professionals at HKS and the SWA Group to create building and landscape designs for a hospital, hotel and villas to be located in Dubai’s World of Islands development.
The World of Islands is part of an ongoing series of one of the most innovative and ambitious land reclamation and development projects ever attempted. Three of the projects are giant islands in the shape of palm trees, and the fourth, the World of Islands, is a group of islands designed to depict a map of the world.
The island developments, the brainchild of Dubai’s ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, are meant to increase tourism and lessen Dubai’s reliance on oil revenues. All four islands will feature luxury hotels, exclusive residential beachside villas, apartments, marinas, water theme parks, restaurants, shopping malls, sports facilities and health spas.
“The project’s scale creates significant opportunities for development, but its location poses many engineering challenges and requires innovative infrastructure and transportation solutions, ” said George J. Mann, holder of the Ronald L. Skaggs, FAIA & Joseph G. Sprague, FAIA, Endowed Chair in Health Facilities Design at Texas A&M. “The students were encouraged to freely use their imaginations but recognize the local climate, culture and available materials.“
The student project was undertaken at the request of Nunzio M. DeSantis, FAIA, executive vice president of HKS and head of the HKS hospitality group, which is working on the World of Islands project. Also advising the students were architects from HKS Hill Glazier Studio, Marc Budaus, AIA, vice president of HKS, and Chuck McDaniel, principal of the SWA Group, a landscape architecture and urban planning firm.
The Aggies tackling this interdisciplinary project included students in Mann’s healthcare architecture studio, as well as students in assistant professor Jody Naderi’s landscape architecture studio. The studio leaders were assisted by Joseph J. McGraw, professor emeritus, and Jun Hyun Kim, a doctoral student in Urban and Regional Science.
“We tell our students how important interdisciplinary collaboration is in the design and build professions. In this project, they are finding out how to do it and how important it is,” said Mann.
Students in “Destination Healthcare: A Sustainable Resort and Hospital,” participate in a midpoint review March 7. The students will make their final presentations to HKS and SWA Group representatives in Dallas April 25. From left are Mark Burgess, Teri Whitney, Cara Strong and Randi Newman.
Craig Jeffrey, left, and Andrew Brown discuss their midpoint designs. At lower right, Nunzio M. DeSantis, FAIA, of HKS, right, and Chuck McDaniel, principal of SWA Group, listen in.
One of the student designs at midpoint in the semester. It was created by Mark Burgess, Shawn Dressler, Randi Newman, Cara Strong and Teri Whitney. The group called itself Global Architecture & Landscape.
