A new masterplan for the largest superyacht marina in the world is situated in the deepwater industrial port of Mina Zayed. Our urban and architectural response was inspired by the site’s maritime history and scale of the best marinas dotted around the Mediterranean, all the while conserving Abu Dhabi’s identity and heritage. 

Evoking the romance of an Arabian seaside village, the masterplan marries functionality within a new urban neighborhood—promoting Persian Gulf luxury yachting and offering a leading destination for citizens, residents, and tourists alike. A walkable mixed-use neighborhood, the marina hosts housing, hotels, palaces, retail, and hospitality, along with vibrant markets, yacht infrastructure, and harbormaster quarters.

With the focus on creating a high-profile urban and cultural experience, we surfed a fine line between creating the charm and intimacy that can be found in ancient cities and imbuing the project with the high functionality of a modern development. This required very careful crafting and planning of scale, proportion, and programming to protect the soul of the design, creating wonderful human spaces and ecosystems.

Every experience in this marina was planned to be purpose built by experts in the fields of yachting and design to cater to the needs of the most discerning clientele and their vessels. While the masterplan is unparalleled in size, accommodation, technologies, activities, and opulence, its character remains comfortable, intimate, and familiar.