Indoor dining room with views of the surrounding greenery

New Roots – Residences with bioclimatic design in the Arabian Gulf

A residential project that reinterprets the elements of traditional Gulf architecture (compact forms, shading surfaces, and the integration of water and greenery) through a contemporary bioclimatic lens.

2024 · Dubai, United Arab Emirates · Residential buildings (’House of the Future’ competition) · Sustainable Design

New roots in an extreme climate

New Roots was conceived as a design response to a radical climatic challenge: building comfortable homes in a desert environment, where extreme temperatures demand a fundamental rethinking of how we live. The project, developed by a team comprising Maurizio Barberio, Micaela Colella and Angelo Figliola, is based on a clear principle: the most effective cooling solutions do not come from mechanical engineering, but from local building traditions. Over the centuries, architecture in the Arabian Gulf has developed sophisticated spatial devices (compact forms, courtyards, shading surfaces, the integration of water and shade) which the project reinterprets using contemporary tools.

The defining element of the project is the ‘lama’: a strip of vegetation running lengthways through the residential volumes, creating a spatial separation that facilitates cross ventilation. Air flows through this blade and, in combination with water misting systems, contributes to the passive cooling of the spaces. On the first floor, the green blade transforms into a technological strip that channels the mechanical cooling and ventilation systems, also functioning as a stack ventilation element thanks to movable openings and screens on the roof. The transition from a natural element to a technical one is seamless: the same bioclimatic design governs both levels.

The facades are treated as active bioclimatic devices. The transparent surfaces, where not shaded by other elements of the design, are fitted with screens featuring customised patterns, designed to allow air to pass through whilst simultaneously filtering solar radiation according to the orientation of each facade. The fragmentation of the volumes into multiple functional units is not merely a compositional gesture: it increases the number of heat-dissipating surfaces and allows the living space to be expanded or contracted as required. Each module is a small bioclimatic machine that interacts with the adjacent units.

New Roots is an international competition entry developed by Barberio Colella Architetti in collaboration with Angelo Figliola. The practice, founded by two PhD-qualified architects based in Bari, operates on the conviction that the homogenisation of architectural production is one of the causes of the climate-related problems in contemporary construction, as it undermines the site-specific and climate-based practices developed by local building cultures. New Roots is a manifesto of this approach: it does not impose a Western model on the Gulf, but instead grows new roots from the local tradition.

Renders & Photos

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Technical specifications

Location: Dubai (UAE)
Year: 2024
Client: "House of the Future" architectural competition, Buildner (Bee Breeders) in partnership with the Government of Dubai, UAE (Mohammed bin Rashid Housing Establishment + Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation)
Typology: Bioclimatic homes
Status: Concept, competition entry
Designers: Maurizio Barberio (project leader), Micaela Colella, Angelo Figliola
Main materials: vegetation (longitudinal green blade), water misting and water basins, screens with customised patterns for ventilation and variable shading depending on orientation. Specific construction materials to be defined in later stages of the project.

Technical drawings

Layout of the modular building modules for the New Roots residential development

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How does one design for residential comfort in a desert climate without relying entirely on active climate control?

In the extreme climates of the Arabian Gulf, the standard response is intensive mechanical air conditioning: sealed buildings, oversized systems, and extremely high energy consumption. This approach ignores centuries of local building knowledge, shaded courtyards, wind towers, and the use of water and vegetation as cooling tools. New Roots demonstrates that a site-specific bioclimatic design can drastically reduce dependence on mechanical systems, using volumetric fragmentation, cross ventilation, calibrated shading, and the integration of greenery and water misting as primary bioclimatic devices. The result is a residence that breathes with its climate, rather than fighting it.

Frequently Asked Questions

The green blade is a continuous strip of vegetation running lengthways through the residential volumes, dividing them into two wings. It functions as a bioclimatic corridor: outside air passes through the vegetation, becomes saturated with moisture due to the evapotranspiration of the plants and water misting, and enters the interior spaces via cross ventilation, lowering the perceived temperature. On the first floor, the green blade transforms into a technological strip that channels the cooling systems and functions as a thermal chimney for stack ventilation.

They are solar shading devices designed with specific geometries for each facade orientation. The patterns are calibrated to filter sunlight according to the prevailing angle of incidence on each side (more closed to the south-west, more open to the north), whilst simultaneously allowing air to pass through for natural ventilation. The principle is the same as that of the traditional mashrabiyya in Arab architecture (shielding from the sun without blocking the wind) translated using contemporary parametric design tools.

The fragmentation of the volumes addresses three bioclimatic requirements: it increases the number of heat-dissipating surfaces, facilitating the dissipation of heat accumulated during the day; it creates shaded interstitial spaces between the modules, which function as climate-controlled courtyards with cross ventilation and water misting; it allows for flexible configurations of the living space, which can be extended or reduced as needed. It is not a formal gesture: it is a thermal strategy.

It is possible to significantly reduce energy consumption compared to conventional construction, but talking about NZEB (Nearly Zero Energy Building) in a climate with summer temperatures exceeding 45°C requires caution. Passive strategies (natural ventilation, solar shading, thermal mass, evaporative cooling) can cover a substantial part of the cooling demand, but a degree of active climate control remains necessary during the hottest hours. The realistic goal is a building that works with the climate rather than against it, drastically reducing dependence on mechanical systems without eliminating it.

The key is to distinguish between form and principle. Copying the pointed arch or the wind tower is folklorism; understanding the bioclimatic design principle behind those elements and translating it using contemporary tools is reinterpretation. In New Roots, the mashrabiyya becomes a parametric screen calibrated to the aspect; the inner courtyard becomes the interstitial space between modules with water misting; the compactness of the traditional volume becomes a controlled fragmentation to maximise thermal dissipation. The language is contemporary, the logic is rooted in the place.

The practice starts from the conviction that every project must arise from an analysis of the climate, the site and the local building culture. There is no universal model of sustainable architecture: a bioclimatic house in Puglia is radically different from one in the Arabian Gulf. BCA’s design process integrates academic research (both founders hold PhDs with publications on sustainability and Mediterranean architecture), technical expertise in building envelopes and passive strategies, and sensitivity to the cultural and landscape context. The aim is architecture that works with its climate, not in spite of it. ---

Do you have a residential project in a challenging climate?

If you are designing a home in a hot climate (in the Mediterranean, the Gulf or other regions where cooling is the real challenge) we can help you develop a bioclimatic design that starts with the architecture, not the systems.

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