For Projects in the Oil-Rich Middle East, RNL International Stresses Sustainable Design Approach

(PRWEB) May 1, 2005

RNL International, Master Planner for Burj Dubai, continues to expand its international presence with several exciting new design commissions in the Middle East region. In addition to the Burj Dubai project, a 24 million square foot mixed-use development of office/retail/residential components by Emaar Properties, RNL recently completed design for the luxury villas at The Pearl – Qatar, an exciting new island development in the Doha Bay. The Pearl – Qatar will be comprised of residential, commercial and retail/entertainment elements focused on a waterfront theme. RNL designed the first luxury single-family villas, several prototypes that will be utilized throughout the island project.

RNL is incorporating sustainable design approaches as part of its services for Laguna Tower at Jumeirah Lakes for IFA Resorts and Hotels. RNL is providing architecture, interior design and landscape architecture services to the project. Laguna Tower is a 40-story residential development fronting on the Jumeirah Lakes development. The Laguna Tower design features views of Jumeirah Lake for the majority of the tower’s units and includes resident amenities such as retail, entertainment, and fitness activities. The design of the tower includes the provision for photovoltaic arrays for the generation of electrical power from the sun. This minimizes the electrical demands of critical building systems, helping to alleviate the pressure of an ever-increasing energy demand brought on by one of the world’s largest building booms.

“We’re thrilled about the opportunities to bring our decades-long experience with sustainable design in the U.S. to our international projects,” says Patrick M. McKelvey, AIA, Principal in RNL’s Los Angeles office and Managing Principal of RNL’s international practice. Design for the tower will be completed in 2005 with construction scheduled for completion in 2006.

RNL is also involved with several other environmentally sensitive and sustainable projects in Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Doha and Tunis, all of which currently remain confidential pending formal client announcements. RNL’s services on these projects include master planning/urban design/landscape architecture as well as architectural design services.

RNL combines this recent international experience with the more than 20 years of international design experience obtained through the merger with the firm of Klages Carter Vail in 2000.

RNL’s experience includes major mixed-use developments from highly dense urban locations to low-density high-end resorts.

Turning a grand idea into a successful, viable project that provides a good return on the developer’s investment and creates a place where people want to be is always a challenge. A good master planner understands this process and helps the developer set the character and scale of the development.

“Master planning is not about designing individual buildings, it is about creating the overall sense of place in a development community,” says McKelvey. “It’s the special-ness, the ambiance and character of a place. It’s about creating a sustainable community where people can live, work and play, a place where people want to be and want to be seen,” he adds.

It’s RNL’s comprehensive understanding of the master planning and development process that led RNL to additional opportunities with architectural design. “It’s a natural evolution to take it further and design the public spaces and iconic pieces of architecture within the development that demonstrate the overall client vision for the community,” McKelvey says.

RNL is committed to planning and designing environmentally sensitive, sustainable communities and projects that balance the client’s vision and financial objectives with the greater needs of the community and surrounding environment.

RNL is an integrated full service architectural firm with offices in Denver, Los Angeles and Phoenix, and representatives in Dubai, U.A.E., and Shanghai, China. RNL has built its practice providing innovative design solutions to clients, surpassing their expectations and bringing ideas to life. RNL offers clients a continuum of design services, including architecture, interior design, facility programs, feasibility studies, urban design and planning, landscape architecture and engineering. RNL’s success is illustrated by the more than 150 awards it has received since it was founded in 1956. For more information, please visit http://www.rnldesign.com and http://www.rnlinternational.com.

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