Enter the shade
Folded roofs announce a welcoming common space from the surrounding streets. Their low edges align with seating and the accessible garden loop.
Public & Civic Places / Concept study
The Common Ground
Give a neighbourhood an inviting shared heart, with space to participate or simply belong.
Discover the conceptDubai Municipality / Independent concept study
A neighbourhood’s shared living room.
The Common Ground transforms a paved civic square into a shaded garden and community commons. A palm leaf provides the source geometry: broad folds become roof planes, while their edges guide seats and paths. The resulting shelter is useful throughout the day and recognisable without becoming a literal oversized prop. A sensory garden and water rill create small moments of discovery. A reading terrace sits beside a community library; a makers table invites shared activity; a clear loop accommodates people passing through. Quiet and active uses remain connected but distinct. Comfort, maintenance and ordinary routines are part of the place identity, rather than details added after the landmark. Cadimore would define community audiences, public purpose, the place story and the mix of everyday and programmed uses. Residents and relevant public bodies would inform the brief, with landscape and technical partners testing access, heat, planting and water requirements. Seasonal learning, small markets and neighbourhood gatherings could refresh the offer while free everyday use remains central. The ambition is a civic place people feel entitled to inhabit.
The visitor journey
Experience the idea.
Meet through activity
Reading, making and small gatherings provide different ways to participate. Planting separates active tables from quieter seats without losing visibility.
Take the slower route
A sensory garden gives visitors a restful return toward the neighbourhood. The loop reconnects to each entry, supporting short visits and longer stays.
Six perspectives of one place
Explore the space.
One place. Different perspectives.
A story in every view.
Public & Civic Places · Dubai Municipality concept
A neighbourhood’s shared living room.
Palm-leaf folds become useful shade; their edges connect seats, garden paths and a library terrace. Reading, making and simply being there have equal importance in a place designed for daily belonging.
The Common Ground
The whole place
Give a neighbourhood an inviting shared heart, with space to participate or simply belong.
The Common Ground
How the space connects
Palm-leaf folds become useful shade; their edges connect seats, garden paths and a library terrace. Reading, making and simply being there have equal importance in a place designed for daily belonging.
The Common Ground
The first encounter
Folded roofs announce a welcoming common space from the surrounding streets.
The Common Ground
Life within the place
Read in the shade, join the makers table or wander the sensory garden.
The Common Ground
The material story
A family explores planting beside the shallow rill, discovering the garden through touch and shared attention.
The Common Ground
A different perspective
A sensory garden gives visitors a restful return toward the neighbourhood.
All 6 views of The Common Ground, together.
Scroll, swipe or use the arrows · Unbuilt, uncommissioned concept imagery.
Research & interpretation
Learn from remarkable places.
Original unbuilt Cadimore concept. Dubai Municipality is an illustrative brand context; this is not commissioned work or an affiliated project. Spatial arrangements are conceptual and subject to site, operator and technical development.
Snøhetta / DIALOG · Calgary Central Library
Civic architecture and public landscape can reconnect neighbourhoods through welcoming routes and shared activity.
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