- Expertise
- Typology
- Mixed-Use
- Components
- Golf, Marina / Yacht Club, Multi-Family, Office, Residential Community, Resort / Hotel, Resort Community, Retail, Single Family, Town / Village Center
- Attributes
- Cultural Heritage, Destination, Destination Creation, Placemaking, Urban Design, Waterfront
- Scale
- 230 hectares, 30 hectares reclaimed, 300 marina slips, 3 hotels, Greg Norman golf course and villas
white walls, blue tile canals through ground a village on the water
Place
Place: A coast that would not drain
Close to Muscat, along the Gulf of Oman, a stretch of low-lying coast had defeated several attempts at development. The ground would not drain, and plan after plan had failed. The site was among the most promising in the country, open shoreline within reach of the capital, but was among the most difficult to build on. OBMI master planned it as The Wave, now Al Mouj Muscat.
Approach
Approach: Working with the water
The site’s defining problem was water. Rather than fight it, OBMI’s plan worked with it, cutting a network of internal canals, lakes, dams and flood-control measures that carried watershed drainage away from the low ground and, in doing so, became the feature the community grew around.
The same move created new value: land reclamation along the new waterways added thirty hectares of buildable ground, much of it waterfront, on land that earlier plans had written off as unusable. A present-day aerial view of the site still closely matches the plan OBMI drew.
Experience
Experience: Grown like a fishing village
The community was organised around a traditional Omani fishing village, with homes, hotels, restaurants and shops set along the water’s edge so that the whole reads as though it had grown there over time rather than arriving at once. Built in a contemporary interpretation of Omani architecture, the plan introduced ideas then new to the Arabian Peninsula: placemaking, clustered living, townhomes, and daily needs within walking distance of home.
“A significant success, The Wave concept has managed to not only attract foreign investment but also invigorate the Omani real estate sector, creating benchmarks for future developments.”
Outcome
Outcome: For Omanis first
The phasing was built to flex, giving the client room to develop in stages and adapt as the market moved. The response settled the question of demand quickly. The first phase sold out within the local community in its first four hours on the market, which established the development as an Omani place rather than an expatriate enclave.
Awards
- 2018
- International Property Awards, Best Mixed-Use Development
- IAGTO Sustainability Award
- 2017
- Arabian Property Awards, Best Residential Development
- 2012
- Arabian Property Awards, Best Leisure Development, Arabia
- Arabian Property Awards, Best Golf Development in Oman
- Arabian Property Awards, Best Mixed-Use Development in Oman
- Arabian Property Awards, Best Leisure Development in Oman
- 2010
- International Residential Property Awards, Highly Commended, Best Architecture
- 2009
- International Residential Property Awards, Best Architecture, Regional and International
- 2008
- International Residential Property Awards, Winner, Best Architecture Multiple Units
