Sustainable Buildings: Oxygen Park, Education City, Doha

Taking the elemental life-force of oxygen as its inspiration, Oxygen Park, is a unique public space designed for health and wellbeing in a desert environment. It has been created with the local community in mind, providing an open space in which to exercise, rest, and play as per via2com. This sustainable building will likely remain a hallmark for a long time.

Oxygen Park is inspired by the wind eroded rocks and fluid land formations of the desert. The path and running tracks are embedded in the topography to create an exciting training ground with looping tracks, cooled tunnel segments, and steep hills.

The night-time lighting scheme and refreshing water features provide an attractive setting for evening sports activities and individual work-outs during cooler hours of the day. Oxygen Park features shaded running tracks, subterranean pitches for team sports, equestrian facilities, as well as more gentle recreation areas with a series of soundscape-filled, refreshing folly spheres.

The ‘balloon lights’ floating above the subterranean grounds make the park visible from afar and add a touch of magic to the setting. Oxygen Park is a man-made ‘green lung’ with a design inspired by nature. It is an antidote to the generic indoor gym environment and helps people to get back to nature, while fostering social engagement and promoting active healthy lifestyles.

PROJECT CREDIT

Client: Qatar Foundation, Education City

AECOM Design Director:

Erik Behrens (Architecture Design Lead), Mark Blackwell, James Haig Streeter (Landscape Design Lead), Warren Osborne, Kevin Underwood

AECOM Team:

Philip Dugdale, Alfredo Galindo, Eric Hallquist, Shafee Jones-Wilson, Wing Lai, James Manuel, John Neilson, Jonathon Reeves, Adam Rothwell, Jason Shinoda, Stephen Suen, Jack Wu

Engineering: AECOM, Arup

Lighting: MBLD

Water Feature: Fountains Direct

Project Management: ASTAD

CM/CS: Parsons

Main Contractor: MAN Enterprise

Photography: Markus Elblaus

Selected Bios

Erik Behrens of AECOM is a German Designer and Architect who heads up an award winning Design Studio in London. His studio’s work is innovative and signified by ambitious designs, many defying traditional architectural conventions and dimensions. He joined EDAW/AECOM in 2006 and played a key role on the Design Team for the London 2012 Olympics. Since 2007 he has been leading the design of a series of high profile development projects including Oxygen Park at Education City, the Lusail Expressway Artscape and the design for the world’s first undersea Pedestrian Tunnel in Istanbul, amongst signature bridge and tall building structures across the US, Canada, Middle East and Asia. Recent work has included a series of human-centered design projects weaving together design, technology, and services into seamless ecosystems and solutions. Before joining AECOM he worked with MADA s.p.a.m., Agence TER, and Alex Wall a former Partner of Rem Koolhaas OMA and Tutor of Zaha Hadid. His work has been exhibited internationally including at the Venice and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Biennale and the Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin. He has directed research and design studios at the KIT in Germany and has been guest design critic at the TU Munich, GSD Harvard, Bartlett School of Architecture and AA London.

James Haig Streeter is the Design Practice Director for AECOM’s US West Region and is based in San Francisco. Prior to this he received a master’s in landscape urbanism from London’s Architectural Association and spent seven years in AECOM’s London studio. During this period he led the design of a series of award-winning projects including Pier Head, Liverpool, Westfield London, and Education City, Qatar, together with leading key aspects of Blackpool coastal protection and the London 2012 Olympic masterplan. Recent work in the US has included New York’s World Trade Center public realm and San Francisco’s preparations for the 34th America’s Cup. Before joining AECOM he worked for Peter Walker and Partners, West 8, and Gross Max. His work has been published internationally and has been guest design critic at the Architectural Association, London; the Graduate School of Design, Harvard; and UC Berkeley.

Photo Credits:  Markus Elblaus via v2com