Ocean’s Paradise – Maldives Airport Economic Zone

This project is a national key overseas project of the Belt & Road and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and is located in the east coast of Hurumare Island, an artificial island in the Capital New Area of Maldives, close to the Central Park. The whole plot is penetrated by the central landscape axis of the city center. A building complex with a total floor area of 100,000 square meters will be built on a plot of 60,000 square meters, including an airport service center, an international trade center, an exhibition center, a transportation hub port, a shopping center, a five-star hotel, retail stores, and a cultural plaza facing the ocean and ancillary infrastructure services.

As the world largest coral island country, the unique natural scenery of Maldives makes this archipelago a renowned paradise on earth. But behind that lurks a huge crisis. Global warming is causing sea levels to rise, making this paradise in danger of disappearing from the earth forever.

CAA integrates the concepts of tropical culture, Marine ecology and sustainable development, endows the building with the meaning of life, and alleviates the negative impact of traditional architecture on the environment. From the aerial view of the sea, this new city grows from the sea to the shore like a new life growing from the sea to the land along a neural network, mirroring and echoing the coral reefs on the sea floor.

The Ocean’s Heaven integrates the land and water transportation hub, commerce, retailing, hotel and cultural center into a vibrant futuristic community. The community central garden blurs the boundary of different functions and connects with each other to form a whole. The overpass growing from the sea spreads to the hinterland of the city like a nerve system, breaking the sea-land boundary and connecting four independent buildings: Airport Service Center, Convention and Exhibition Center, Transportation Hub Port and Hotel. The human activity place extends horizontally and vertically from the sea to the land, making the experience of the whole urban space more three-dimensional.

This Nerve System is not only a traffic space and hanging garden, but also endowed with another more important function: a giant urban Energy Converter. The green energy collection system in the form of coral seems to grow out of the ocean and cover the whole plot. Rainwater collection and solar energy storage technology are realized through cell-like "awnings". At the same time, these "awnings" have also become the structural system supporting the Nerve System, a public space device combining functions and aesthetics. This sustainable energy system design allows 70% of the energy consumption of the entire complex to be supplied through its own recycling, which truly realizes the recycling and utilization of green energy.

CAA reweaves architecture, art, environment and culture in the beautiful lagoon of the Indian Ocean to create a community where people and nature coexist, a living architectural community and a landmark of Maldives pointing to the future, which is the Ocean’s Heaven.