丨巴林哈马德丨Reading Grounds

Hamad Botanical Garden, Bahrain

The Botanical Garden is designed as a sensitive landscape that celebrates the local ecology.

Collaborators

Reading Grounds - Landscape Design

Hamad Botanical Garden

Type

Public Infrastructure - Botanical Garden

City

Hamad, Kingdom of Bahrain

Built Up Area

30 acres / 20,000 sqm

Site

The 30 acre site sits off the highway in Hamad City.  The site is dry and barren, but has traces of the seasonal water flow within it.  The existing Wadi [rainwater swale / nullah] in the site sets the seed for the concept Masterplan of the Botanical garden. The Wadi’s braided path after the rains, when smaller threads of water find wavy paths on the terrain inspires the braided design of the garden landscape. Design was done collaboratively with the landscape architects ( Reading Grounds). Some of the content here is from Reading Grounds works for the project.

Walking through a landscape of trees, flowers, buzzing insects and fluttering butterflies is a refreshing experience. Gardens and Parks in our cities open a door into nature and its wonderful eco system even in the middle of the built fabric. They are a vital public space in any city. While gardens seem ‘natural’, they are articulated landscapes and need to be designed. They resemble natural ecosystems but in limited ways. Most gardens are green spaces of play, recreation or practical use. A botanical garden goes a step further and simulates natural eco-systems. It brings the idea of articulated landscape gardens closer to natural ecosystems by providing the right conditions for the ecosystem of plants, water, sunlight, moisture, animals, insects etc to thrive. The design of the Hamad Botanical and Park will bring a varied experience to its visitors – where recreation and learning merge into a landscape of natural elements.

The site is situated at 4.8km from the coast, and is elevated to approx. 38m above sea level. The terrain gently slopes towards the Lawzi Lake. Lawzi lake receives water from surface run-off, springs, sea water that rises through ground, minimal rainfall and controlled storm water drain that leads towards. This creates differential salinity, thereby ranging in rich ecosystem.With the proximity of Lawzi lake close to the proposed site, this could be of great advantage for the future development of rich fauna inside the proposed botanical park. Moreover, the region promises for a rich flora if the land, terrain and soil are rightly treated.

A watershed region describes an area of land that contains a common set of streams and surface run-off that all drain into a single larger body of water, such as a larger river, a sea. The larger territorial analysis gives an insight into the watershed regions of and around the site.