The Buhais Geology Park Interpretive Centre, designed by Hopkins Architects, was officially opened by His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah in 2020. The park lies approximately 30 miles (50 kilometres) south-east of the city of Sharjah in a region of exceptional prehistoric and geological significance.
The site features an abundance of marine fossils from over 65 million years ago, spectacular mountain ranges, and ancient burial sites from the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages. The Geology Park is the latest addition to a suite of learning centres operated by Sharjah’s Environmental Protected Areas Authority, which leads conservation efforts in the Emirate, manage protected areas and provides exceptional educational experiences.
RIBA Members and students joining on this walking tour led by Peter Jackson FRIBA, HH Architect Advisor, and Amin Bin Hassan, Project Director at Hopkins Architects, will see exhibition spaces that vividly present the region’s significant geological phenomena. This will include deep earth structures, plate tectonics, geomorphology, and sedimentation.
Peter Jackson FRIBA, HH Architect Advisor, and the project coordinator in HH the Ruler’s Office said: “The Park is important in locating a significant interpretive centre outside of the main urban centre, where traditionally museums have been sited.
Though primarily an educational resource, the Park is also important for tourism in the Emirate. Hopkins’ powerful but sensitive architecture offers Sharjah an exciting new environmental focus, containing a dynamic exhibition authored by the geologist, the late Dr. Gautam Sen, which is especially relevant as we face further dramatic climate change.”
Simon Fraser, Principal and Lead Designer, Hopkins Architects said: “Rarely is an architect offered the opportunity to design a building for such a beautifully barren landscape with so much geological and cultural significance.
Our ‘light touch’ approach references the site’s marine fossils by delivering a series of ‘urchin’ pods that sit cleanly on the ground and seek to become a part of the local environment. The Centre’s inner spaces enable visitors to follow a journey that ultimately leads them to explore the jebel itself. We are confident that this exciting new facility will encourage many people from all over the world to understand the way in which landscapes are formed by tectonic activities and how the Earth has changed over time.”
