At the WAF Festival 2017, 3deluxe's project Mleiha Desert Observatory won the category “Future Projects – Experimental.” The integration of this building in the beautiful environment of the Mleiha Desert National Park is a contemporary symbol of forward-thinking sustainable tourism for the area.

The national park is located approximately one hour’s drive from Sharjah, and has numerous archaeological and scenic attractions emerging. It is one of the hottest places on Earth, in the middle of Sharjah’s untouched desert. 3deluxe are implementing this expressive building on the ridge of the Jebel Fayah Mountain range, with a lookout and an observatory as well as a natural history exhibition. The area is also home to a significant excavation site with findings from the Bronze Age located around the settlements of Mleiha.

The sustainable tourism project of the public development authority Shurooq also relies on the beauty of the orange and red sand desert and the spectacular night sky. For the observatory concept, 3deluxe are playing with these characteristics of the surrounding nature for the building’s function. The observatory is the pinnacle of the highest point of the mountain ridge, appearing like a fallen meteorite. With its exposed location, it is a widely visible landmark, while merging harmoniously into the pristine landscape.

The fragmented cubes are a reference to the jagged rock formations of the mountains with the façade’s colour scheme mirroring the surroundings. The pigmented concrete echoes the warm shades of red and brown of the desert sand with the rough surface creating subtle shadows. The three generous terraces allow for long distance views in all directions with the highest equipped with telescopes for stargazing, with well visible stars above the entirely dark desert.

Inside the building, the natural history exhibition and the café share a floor. Seating arrangements over several levels offer unobstructed views through the panoramic windows spanning the entire width of the space, which provides a fantastic outlook onto the wide desert plain. The landscape panorama is overlayed with digital projections of data and information. The observatory’s wood clad interior radiates a natural, calm atmosphere. At night, it creates the impression of sitting outside with the dark coloured ceiling illuminated with countless dots of light with the large glass pane merging into a sky window which spans the room. Following the award-winning Noor Island Park, which opened in 2016, the Mleiha Meteorite is 3deluxe’s second project in Sharjah and is planned to be completed in 2019.

If you would like more detailed information about this and other designs by 3deluxe, email 3delux via the contact details below.

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