... is a competition entry in an undisclosed location. The project is primarily a staff village for the support of tourism and leisure assets and hosting 4.200 staff at a location 4km away from the coast. From directors’ level to low-wage staff, including a mixture of people with Arabic, Eastern and Western backgrounds, together they will form a community that will set the standard for future settlements.

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The design stems from a grid system - a purely rational framework, further adjustable according to demand. The inhabitation is the densest at the entrance in the western part of the scheme and gradually decreases eastward, allowing various accommodation types from dormitories to private villas to naturally coexist. Slight tilting and distorting of the cartesian grid allows for a less hierarchical system to emerge. 

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It is my first project at OMA Rotterdam under the lead of Mark Veldman and partner-in-charge Chris van Dujin. I worked primarily on the programming of the scheme, constantly balancing on the border between architecture and urbanism. In an almost small-city environment, all traditional amenities e. g. shopping, education, sports and leisure had to be introduced. A strategic placement in either clusters (big mixed-programme units), stamps (smaller and repetitive mixed-programme units) or stand-alone programmes ensured equal access throughout the complex, rendering an otherwise highly divided and differentiated scheme in a problematic political climate much more egalitarian.

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PROGRAMME: staff housing (with all amenities)

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LOCATION: confidential

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STATUS: stage 2 - concept design

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