The Mount

Building services, civil, structural and geotechnical engineering, sustainable design, architectural and lighting design, acoustics, transportation, IT/ AV and security.

The Mount is a mixed use project located on the mountains overlooking the city of Muscat in Oman.

The project comprises residential, hotel and retail developments, and sits approximately 650m above sea level. It occupies a footprint of 1,200,000 m2 and GFA of 650,000 m2

Due to the location, height and geology of the proposed site, it presented the design team a few challenges. One of the major challenges was highlighted to be accessibility to the site both during construction and post completion, which was exacerbated by the almost 300m level difference across the site. To tackle this challenge and with due consideration to time and cost, the design team considered a number of access routes and modes along with smart construction methodology.

The proposed construction methodology considered minimises the magnitude and complexity of transportation to the site. In addition, local materials from the site will be used for the purposes of construction and moving towards sustainability.

Sustainable design approaches adopted included a 45% reduction in road construction through our unique transportation strategy. Due to the varying topography to and within the site this posed some challenges in providing infrastructure (Power and Roads) not only across the development but also primary infrastructure serving the site.

The design team had to consider minimising the energy demand by using smart and sustainable solutions and strategically locating the services across the site and in phases.