Hopkins Architects has completed the Buhais Geology Park Interpretive Centre on a former prehistoric sea in the emirate of Sharjah, UAE.
The visitor centre is in the desert 30 miles south-east of the city of Sharjah, alongside the Jebel Buhais archaeological site within the Al Madam plain.
"Our first sight of Jebel Buhais was in the late afternoon sun, exploring the area after the midday heat," said Simon Fraser, principal at Hopkins Architects.
"It is an amazingly beautiful, barren setting, with the Jebel providing a powerful backdrop."

The building sits on a former prehistoric sea and takes its form directly from the fossils of sea urchins that can be found in the region .
"The design takes its inspiration from the fossilised sea urchins, dating back around 65 million years, which are readily found across the site and wider area," Fraser told Dezeen. "Rarely is an architect offered the opportunity to design a building for such a beautifully barren landscape with so much geological and cultural significance."

The centre's main building is formed of a cluster of four interconnected, circular, reinforced concrete pods, which are clad in bronze-coloured steel.
A bridge leads up a reception space, from where visitors enter the main exhibition halls contained in two of the circular pods ? the first enclosed and the second with views of Jebel Buhais.
These spaces lead to a theatre, which has a large window also overlooking the rocky...