The Pixel complex of 525 apartments is located on Al Rim Island in the Makers' District, conceived by the developer IMKAN. This area, across a narrow strait from Saadiyat Island, the main cultural center of the emirate, should become the focus of his creative forces.
Therefore, Pixel also includes office space, and they can be divided into blocks of 50 m2, which is well suited for startups. Also on a total area of 85,000 m2 there will be shops, cafes, restaurants, a medical center, a swimming pool, a gym, a community center, and a children's playroom. However, not a rich program will distinguish the complex under the MVRDV project among similar ones, but a rare appeal to the outside for Abu Dhabi. However, outside it is still an inner courtyard formed by seven mid-rise towers, whose “outer” facades are quite laconic.
The buildings look out into the courtyard in “pixelated” parts from bay windows and balconies, protected from the sun by ceramic lattice screens with a mother-of-pearl iridescent coating - in memory of the pearl mining for which Abu Dhabi was once famous. Pavilions in the courtyard will receive the same screens. All this is done so that residents can spend more time outside: the climate of the emirate allows it to comfortably do eight cooler months of the year (although the typical local development does not take this into account in any way).
The courtyard in the residential complex is the main advantage, so even expensive apartments are not located on the upper floors, as usual, but are mixed with the rest closer to the ground. The size of the dwellings varies from studio to three-bedroom apartments.
The landscaping of the courtyard, as well as the esplanade leading to the beach, was carried out by the architects BIG, who also own the project of a residential complex nearby - closer to the sea.
