British studio Hopkins Architects has created a cluster of prefabricated concrete pods to house the Khor Kalba Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary on the eastern coast of the emirate of Sharjah in the UAE.
Built for Sharjah's Environmental Protected Areas Authority, the turtle sanctuary and visitor centre stands on the edge of the Kalba nature reserve.
Hopkins Architects aimed to design a series of interconnected structures that were sensitive to the site, which is located by the Indian Ocean alongside a lagoon and dense mangroves.
The Khor Kalba Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary stands on the edge of a nature reserve
"In many ways the site and the design are inseparable ? the project itself is dedicated to the preservation of the site and its wildlife," said Simon Fraser, principal at Hopkins Architects. "Our client was very keen that the project would both celebrate nature and teach visitors about environmental responsibility," he told Dezeen.
"The challenge was really how to preserve the site's character and create buildings that sit in harmony with the setting."
The visitor centre is housed in seven concrete pods
Created as a base for research and monitoring of the reserve and to provide information to visitors, the structure occupies seven interconnected circular pods.
Informed by fisherman's baskets, the low structures were designed to be unobtrusive within the protected setting.
A foyer space connects several of the pods
"Our core concept was to cr...