The Geology Park is the Latest Addition to a Suite of Learning Centres in the Emirate

The Geology Park is the latest addition to a suite of learning centres operated by Sharjah’s Environmental Protected Areas Authority who-lead conservation efforts in the Emirate, manage protected areas and provide educational experiences. Lying approximately 30 miles south-east of Sharjah in a region of exceptional prehistoric and geological significance, the site features an abundance of 65-million-year-old marine fossils, spectacular mountain ranges and ancient burial sites. Five interconnected pods create a series of exhibition spaces which present the region’s significant geological phenomena, including deep earth structures, plate tectonics, geomorphology and sedimentation. Linking the pods and looping sinuously around the site is an outdoor trail incorporating viewing areas, a classroom shaded by a high-tensile canopy and raised walkways across natural rock formations and ancient burial grounds.

The geometry of the pods was inspired by the fossilised urchins present on site, and developed into a typology which could be sized to suit the Centre’s different functions: an immersive theatre, café, gift shop and other visitor facilities. The pods are clad in steel panels, coloured to reference the different hues of the surrounding landscape. These panels are fixed into an array of steel ribs, giving the pods their distinctive sculptural, cantilevered forms and further referencing the exoskeleton of the urchin fossils. The restrained palette of the interior materials complements the pods’ exposed pre-cast concrete shell segments. In some pods, glazing and oculi have been inserted to control natural light into the space, tempering the brightness of the desert sun.

Project Information

Architect: Hopkins Architects