IDG were employed by ADNOC civil projects unit to design the new 18 hole golf course at Ruwais City along with the surrounding masterplan comprising housing, a hotel, a mosque and some convenience shopping. The development is part of ADNOC’s mission to make Ruwais a lifestyle city which is already well underway with central parks, shopping malls and entertainment districts.

IDG senior staff spent a week at ANDOC HQ sketching multiple masterplan options before a final design was chosen to progress. The masterplan dealt with all the various site constraints including high winds, interesting topography and important service runs as well as meeting all the local development regulations. The golf course was then progressed to detailed design stages which dealt with the severe weather in the middle east as well as construction budgets and local style preferences. Ecology and environmental considerations were key in developing the design to its current arrangement, using drought and salt tolerant turfgrasses and minimising planting to create a dramatic desert style golf course. Irrigation water is fed from the TSE network as well as brackish groundwater and there are no freshwater lakes, instead opening up a ground water lake, creating our most sustainable course to date.

Objectives & Challenges:

• Create an extraordinary golf course and landscape to create a world class amenity for the residents of Ruwais.
• Create maximum financial value by value engineering entire scheme.
• Design to strict environmental constraints whilst retaining design integrity.
• Design within very tight timescales to deliver the project in a very short programme.

Added Value & Benefits:

• Deep understanding of golf developments and the value it can drive.
• Ability to input masterplanning discipline resulting in a smoother design flow from the start.
• Engineering input into overall water strategy.
• CGI visuals of landscape concept enabling entire consultant/developer team to understand the design intent.