Shemagh Urban Design – Abu Dhabi
“A Vision for Cooler, Greener Cities”
The Shemagh Urban Design Project in Abu Dhabi redefines how public plazas and urban spaces can adapt to climate challenges. Designed as a multifunctional system, it tackles the urban heat island effect by combining innovative technology with ecological principles. At the heart of the project stands the Urban Cooler, a solar-powered installation that cools, cleans, and revitalizes city air while creating shaded, biodiverse havens for people and wildlife.
Visualization of plaza with red canopy pattern
The Urban Cooler – Cooling Cities, Cleaning Air
The Urban Cooler is a unique tower that captures solar energy through perovskite solar panels and uses it to power an advanced cooling system. Each tower can process more than 300,000 m³ of urban air per day, reducing temperatures in its surroundings by 7–13°C. At the same time, the cooler captures CO₂, filters pollutants, and removes harmful particles and bacteria, including viruses.
Video presentation of the Shemagh Urban Design project in Abu Dhabi, featuring the Urban Cooler tower and perovskite solar-powered pavilions. The film shows how the system reduces the urban heat island effect by cooling over 300,000 m³ of air per day, capturing CO₂, filtering dust and viruses, and providing shaded seating areas with integrated biodiversity planting. Designed as an innovative urban plaza, the project enhances public life while attracting pollinators and improving air quality.
Airflow is directed to two shaded pavilion areas, ensuring residents and visitors can enjoy comfortable, cooled public spaces even during the hottest months in Abu Dhabi. By integrating passive shading, reflective pavements, and permeable surfaces, the system creates a healthier microclimate while significantly reducing ground and air temperatures.
Designing for Biodiversity and Pollinators
More than a technological solution, the Shemagh Project embraces landscape architecture and ecological design. Surrounding the Urban Cooler, green planting zones are established to support pollinators, beneficial insects, and urban wildlife. Native and adaptive plant species provide nectar sources, food, and shelter, while shaded plazas encourage natural cooling through biodiverse planting layers.
This design not only improves urban resilience but also enhances ecological connectivity, helping pollinators and small wildlife thrive within the dense city environment. The planting palette and structured zones transform what would be a typical plaza into a living ecological corridor.
Project Overview plan – aerial grid
Project Overview plan – aerial grid
Public Life and Sustainable Energy
The Shemagh pavilions serve as multifunctional urban living rooms. Pavilion Type A is a relaxation zone with shaded seating, clean drinking water, and cooling water features. Pavilion Type B provides public facilities, rest areas, and storage space for community use.
All energy required is harvested from solar panels, with excess energy transferred to the city’s electrical grid, contributing to Abu Dhabi’s vision of a sustainable, carbon-smart future. By combining clean air, reduced CO₂, shaded plazas, and ecological planting, the project directly improves the quality of public life.
Robust Design – Urban Cooler cross-section
Urban Cooler airflow diagram (static, circular, directed flow)
Towards Resilient and Livable Cities
The Shemagh Urban Design for Abu Dhabi is more than an architectural installation — it’s a prototype for climate-adaptive urban design worldwide. It shows how integrating technology, biodiversity, and human comfort can create resilient, sustainable, and inspiring urban spaces.
Surfaces and local climate graph
By reducing air temperatures, filtering pollution, and supporting pollinators and wildlife, the project addresses climate stress while reconnecting people with nature. This innovative design sets a model for how cities in arid climates can transform their plazas into healthier, cooler, and more livable environments.