Bahrain Bay
Bahrain Bay is a residential and commercial district located on the main island of Bahrain, from Bahrain International Airport.
Description
Bahrain Bay is situated on coastal land adjacent to the original political and business area in the heart of Bahrain's capital city Manama. across the shallow waters which form the bay.The project was designed by American firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who also designed the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower. The master plan was designed by then-SOM architect Michael David Kirchmann, who explored the idea of concentric circles appearing as ripples from the central anchor structure.
Completed in 2012 and sporting several flyovers, Bahrain Bay is linked to the main multi-lane carriageways of the city by the purpose-built North Manama Causeway. This is a raised 6 lane highway some in length which loops around the bay. This carriageway has wide exits and entrance ramps along its route which connect to the various areas of Bahrain Bay. The main road leads to the North and West highways at one end and the nearby Bahrain Financial Harbor at the other. This junction also leads to the east and southbound routes and the old central Manama ‘souk’.
Infrastructure
Reclamation was completed in 2011 with infrastructure foundation and of key walls in place. A district cooling facility with chilled water connects to all land parcels.A 66 kV primary substation with five small 11 kV substations have been designed and constructed to power the entire project with redundancy built in. This and two sewerage pumping stations complete the utilities infrastructure.
Created by the reclamation of three islands – the north island, south island, and the Four Seasons central island – the development creates an inner harbor adjacent to the northern corniche of Manama. It is connected to the mainland by two multi-lane causeways, and encircled by a new ring road called the North Manama Causeway.
The project has a total reclaimed area of. The project uses of quay wall, and of vehicular roads. As part of the infrastructure, the project has built four 66 kV primary substations, five 11 kV substations, two potable water reservoirs, and two sewerage pumping stations.
Anchor Developments
There are two Anchor Developments to Bahrain Bay which form the cornerstones of the project:Arcapita Group
Arcapita, an international investment manager and the majority shareholder of the project, has located their global corporate headquarters at Bahrain Bay.Four Season Hotel
The Four Seasons hotel.International Investors
Third-party developers who have purchased land in the project include:- Al Baraka Banking Group, a global Islamic banking institution. Having decided to relocate its headquarters in 2016, the Al Baraka Banking Group purpose-built offices were completed. The building consists of two towers linked by a bridge, each 9 floors above ground, plus a mezzanine level. It has 4 levels of basement parking and ground level spaces.
- Waterbay Residences. The first construction of residential sections of Bahrain Bay also began in 2017, with the ‘Waterbay’ project. The project consists of three buildings, each of ten stories.
- Golden Gate by Grnata Real Estate is a residential development with two towers containing 746 apartments. The towers rise to 44 and 53 stories, making them some of the tallest residential buildings in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The development spans over 140,000 square meters.
- The Onyx is a residential building that has 42 floors and includes 400 freehold residential apartments.
- Onyx Skyview is a mixed-use development that is a combination of residential, commercial, and retail spaces. The residential tower is 200-meter high.
History
In 2015 the Kingdom's first 68-floor Four Seasons Hotel was opened. It stands on its own island, is H-shaped and has 273 hotel rooms.