This 77-acre, 400-unit neighborhood, part of the 20-square-mile Arabian Canal City in Dubai, was conceived in response to a need for housing for foreign workers. Taking advantage of the sloping terrain, the neighborhood is structured around a series of linear terrace gardens that form part of a larger open space network of parks, greens, streets and paseos.

Units feature sunken courtyards that trap cool air in the summer and are carefully oriented in order to foster continuous cross-ventilation and to maximize solar gain during winters. Cooling towers located throughout the neighborhood serve as architectural features in addition to providing passive cooling. Trellises and plantings shade walkways while a series of water channels and fountains activates parks and greens, helping to regulate temperatures.

All housing within the neighborhood is designed in variations of the traditional architecture of the region, with rich wooden and stone detailing. Each of the four unit types—small townhomes, medium townhomes, compound homes and courtyard villas—is designed to have two plan, massing and frontage variations, depending on their solar orientation. All have a public face to a street or green with a rear private yard; access to individual garages is via mid-block alleys. This careful distribution of types, styles and frontages creates a rich and diverse neighborhood fabric with a limited menu of unit types.