A Process for Providing Environmentally Conscious Housing in the UAE

Housing has become a core theme in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Recent reports have marked a shortfall in the required supply of middle-income housing, thus suggesting significant efforts to address the current imbalance. It is believed that several reasons have contributed to the current shortage of affordable housing, including the low adoption of prefabricated construction techniques resulting in higher construction costs, as well as lower financial returns; therefore, making such developments less attractive for developers. However, there are several projects that have proven to be successful in utilizing precast concrete towards practical and economical value, in addition to providing a viable solution to meet the expectations for efficient housing delivery with regard to quantity and quality. In this research, we propose a comprehensive process that combines a design and production model to enhance the actual practices and mechanisms of the precast concrete development. This paper proposes various stages of logic design implemented in an architectural process with the aim of reaching the highest level of sustainability in UAE housing while reducing the cost of construction, and the time of delivery

Design and delivery of national housing in the UAE: an alternative approach

The provision of national housing to citizens in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is considered a crucial topic. Over the past four decades, the process of developing national housing has emerged into multiple housing programs and schemes, all with the same aim of offering affordable and high-quality housing to citizens, in addition to meeting the needs of local families regarding spatial configurations while maintaining cultural values. However, despite all these efforts, the question has always remained: are the offered housing practices suited for family needs, socioeconomic trends, and environmental challenges? This study aims to offer an alternative approach for the design and delivery of national housing practices in the UAE. The proposed process is structured based on the following ethos: first, a conceptual approach for design flexibility toward offering customization while maintaining contextual and cultural qualities for inhabitants; second, a computational design strategy for facade optimization that illustrates the significance of incorporating environmentally conscious design strategies in response to local climatic conditions toward enhancing overall building performance; and third, a hybrid production model that relies on a prefabricated building approach that combines precast concrete systems with 3D printing technology. The efforts described in this article represent a significant phase of an ongoing research endeavor that explores how technological capacities could help rethink national housing in the UAE

Optimizing prefabricated construction techniques in UAE as a solution to shortage of middle-income housing

Housing is a major subject in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, JLL, the world’s leading real estate investment and advisory firm, highlights the social and economic impact of a marked shortfall in the required supply of middle-income housing, suggesting that significant efforts are needed to address the current imbalance. For an equal standard and life style in UAE and KSA, the gap of sale and rent prices raises many questions. The middle-income sector of the market represent almost 40 percent of all households in the UAE. Several factors that have contributed to the current shortage of affordable housing, high land values, High capital costs for associated infrastructure development, low adoption of prefabricated construction techniques have contributed to higher construction costs, lower financial returns, making such developments less attractive for developers, limited access to suitable finance for low income families, due to generally immature mortgage markets. Resolving the shortage of middle-income housing requires a concentrated effort involving government agencies, private developers and other stakeholders. This Study will investigate the UAE Housing market to propose solutions for a better progress of the precast sector and focusing on the promotion of sustainable and industrial approaches to construction