Masdar Institute of Science and Technology

The buildings are oriented to provide optimum shade and reduce cooling loads. Facades are designed to respond to their orientation and photovoltaic installations on every roof are combined with photovoltaic panels to shade streets and buildings.

Cooling air currents are channelled through the public spaces using a contemporary version of traditional windtowers. The public spaces are further cooled by green landscaping and water to provide evaporative cooling.

The laboratories and residential accommodation are supported by a variety of social spaces, including a gymnasium, canteen, café and meeting space, as well as landscaped areas that create a new destination within the city. One, two and three-bedroom apartments are housed in low-rise, high-density blocks, which act as a social counterpoint to the educational laboratory environment.

Windows in the residential buildings are protected by an interpretation of mashrabiya, a type of latticed projecting oriel window, constructed with sustainably developed, glass-reinforced concrete, coloured with local sand to integrate with its desert context and to minimise maintenance. The perforations for light and shade are based on the patterns found in the traditional architecture of Islam.