Here's what PDO's new sustainable housing project will offer residents

Energy Sunday 12/November/2017 20:33 PM
By: Times News Service
Here's what PDO's new sustainable housing project will offer residents

Muscat: Oman’s first sustainable development project at Ras Al Hamra (RAH) will be home to more than 1,000 families by 2023.
It will also have an international school, a five star hotel, entertainment facilities as well as a medical centre.
Spread across a 281 hectare site east of Shatti Al Qurum, the multi-million dollar project is expected to have 1,067 residential units, including apartments, villas and townhouses for PDO employees and their families from 70 different nationalities.
“Since the commencement of construction in 2012, Phase 1 has seen the completion of a new 33kV electrical substation, expansion of the main approach road to become a dual carriageway, a new floodlit golf course (open to public), a medical clinic, mosque, primary school and kindergarten, as well as 272 new villas, townhouses and apartments for PDO staff and families,” said Ahmed Al Shaibani, Project Manager at the RAH development project.
“Phase two of the residential redevelopment is now underway, with a mix of apartments, townhouses, terraced houses and villas, totalling 195 additional residential units. Design and tendering for the remaining residential units will be completed in 2018, with delivery of the final total of 1,067 new residential units slated for 2023.”
The site also includes the Ras Al Hamra Recreation Club, which has recently had a new two-storey cafe added adjacent to the beach, and will see staged replacement and modernising of facilities over the coming years.
The development is currently home to approximately 600 families, which will expand to some 1,100 families, upon completion.
The project will be carried out in five phases, through 2023. Design of the project takes into account both green building features and Omani cultural architecture, while focusing heavily on sustainability from the complete development stage to the operational phase.
More than $200 million in work for the project has been awarded to local contractors and SMEs, with 70 per cent of materials being locally sourced.
The RAH project also deploys best industrial practices for energy efficiency and reducing the use of electricity through the installation of solar water heaters and streets lights, as well as LED lights for internal lighting.
The school building has received a silver LEED certification, boasting initiatives, such as grey water recycling. The development also aims to retain 25 per cent of its area as green space, to provide pathways for commuting inside RAH by walking or cycling.