Zayed Waterfront is a conceptual 2.3-million-square-metre masterplan for Mina Zayed.
The vision features Cruise Island, Business Island and Resort Island.
Lifestyle plans include restaurants, hotels, beaches, floating villas, promenades and a superyacht club.
The ambitious concept for Mina Zayed includes beaches, restaurants, hotels, floating villas and a superyacht club.
Abu Dhabi’s waterfront is already home to some of the capital’s biggest cultural, dining and leisure destinations, and an ambitious new vision could dramatically extend that offering. Dubai-based X Architects has unveiled Zayed Waterfront, a conceptual masterplan that reimagines Mina Zayed as a vast new civic, maritime and lifestyle destination.
Spanning approximately 2.3 million square metres, the proposal would transform the historic port district into three interconnected areas named Cruise Island, Business Island and Resort Island. Together, they would create a new waterfront gateway connecting downtown Abu Dhabi and the Corniche with Saadiyat Island.
For residents and visitors, the most exciting element is the emphasis on life beside the water. Zayed Waterfront proposes extending the Corniche into Mina Zayed through shaded promenades, public plazas and waterfront spaces, creating new places to walk, dine and spend time outdoors. Zayed Plaza would sit at the heart of the development, with plans for a maritime archive, marine research centre, event spaces and public amenities.
The lifestyle offering becomes particularly prominent on Business Island. Centred around Abu Dhabi Marina, the district is envisioned with hotels, restaurants, convention facilities and marina services, alongside offices, a marina club and facilities capable of hosting boat shows.
Resort Island, meanwhile, could become the place to switch off. Plans show beaches, orchards, mangroves, branded residences, floating villas and a superyacht club, with buildings positioned to look towards Saadiyat Island and across the marina. Bridges, canals, ferries and water taxis would help connect the wider destination.
The project also looks back as much as it looks forward. Mina Zayed has played an important role in Abu Dhabi’s development since the port became operational in the early 1970s, and the concept draws upon the emirate’s history of fishing, pearling, shipbuilding and trade.
Ahmed Al Ali, Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of X Architects, said: “Mina Zayed is one of the places from which Abu Dhabi’s modern identity emerged. Its relationship to trade, the sea and the wider Gulf is deeply embedded in the city’s history. Our vision is to give that legacy a renewed civic role, creating a new waterfront gateway that belongs to the whole city while retaining the energy and intelligence of a working maritime landscape.”
Crucially, Zayed Waterfront remains at the concept design stage, and a construction schedule or opening date has not been announced.
Where: Zayed Waterfront, Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi
Contact: https://x-architects.com