A Gulf terrace is closed for five months of the year unless someone engineers the air. We model it, build it under the paving, and prove it with a thermometer at seated height.
Four Seasons Hotel · The Pearl, Doha · five terraces
Shade alone does not do it: at forty degrees, shaded air is still forty degrees. Misting wets the guests and the stone. What works is a pool of cool, dry air held at the height people sit, replenished faster than the afternoon can warm it.
Terraces, courtyards, and walkways that trade for the whole year rather than the cool half of it.
The cooling is indirect, so nothing is sprayed onto guests, furniture, or stone. The air arrives cool and dry.
The plant sits out of sight, the ducts run under the paving, and the grilles are designed into the floor and the planters.
The design target is a temperature at seated height. The CFD predicts it, the balance report proves it.
Four stages, from the plant to the guest. The first two happen out of sight; the last two are designed into the floor and the planting. Hover a stage to see where it sits.
An indirect evaporative cooler uses evaporation on one side of a heat exchanger to cool the supply air on the other, so the air gets colder without picking up moisture. A conventional cooling coil then trims it to the target.
Air handling units with an indirect evaporative first stage and a chilled-water or DX second stage, sized for a 45 °C intake. The evaporative stage does most of the work on fan and water alone, which is what keeps the running cost of a terrace sane.
The cold air travels through HDPE ducts buried under the terrace. They are insulated to R-10, so the air arrives as cold as it left, and they cannot rust in wet ground.
Pre-insulated HDPE underground duct, R-10, lightweight and corrosion-free, laid in trenches before the paving goes down. No visible ductwork, no plant on the terrace, and no soffit to hang it from.
Floor and low-wall grilles let the air out gently. Cold air is heavier than hot air, so it settles and pools around the seating rather than rising away.
Engineered polycarbonate and stainless steel grilles, honeycomb patterned for low face velocity, set into the stone or the planters. The outlets are placed by the CFD so that every table sits inside the cool zone.
Glass screens and planting break the wind so the pool of cool air is not blown off the terrace. The result is measured at 1.2 metres, where a seated guest's head is.
Windbreakers positioned from the velocity study, then testing, adjusting, and balancing on site against the model. The handover record is the temperature at seated height, under the ambient it was designed for.
Computational fluid dynamics is a simulation of the air itself: where it goes, how fast, and how warm it is at every point in the space. We model the terrace with its furniture, its screens, and the hottest afternoon it will see, and move the grilles and the windbreaks on screen until every seat sits in the cool zone. Only then is the design fixed.
Every part of the system is specified for a Gulf site: plant that works at a 45 °C intake, duct that cannot corrode in wet ground, grilles that disappear into the finishes.
AHU and IDEC
Underground duct
Grilles
Carried by our own engineers and crews, and coordinated with the landscape, the interiors, and the structure, so the terrace opens once.
The space, the furniture plan, the operating hours, and the comfort target the operator will sign.
The terrace simulated at its design ambient; grilles, screens, and plant positioned on the model.
Plant selection, duct routes under the paving, structural and drainage coordination, and the controls.
Air handling units with indirect evaporative cooling, and R-10 HDPE duct laid before the finishes.
Polycarbonate and stainless grilles set into the floor and planters; screens placed from the velocity study.
Our own crews, coordinated with the landscape and interiors trades, so the terrace opens once.
Every outlet balanced, the temperature at seated height recorded against the model.
Operating guidance, seasonal scheduling, and a maintenance plan for the evaporative media and filters.
Three venues the practice was proven on: a five-star hotel's terraces, a retail boulevard, and a mall courtyard.
Hospitality & Leisure · The Pearl, Doha
Outdoor cooling for five dining terraces
Five open-air dining areas of a five-star hotel, each modelled and balanced on its own: the all-day dining terrace, Le Deli Robuchon, Chicago Rare Steakhouse, La Méditerranée Robuchon, and the tea lounges.
Retail & Malls · Lusail, Qatar
Outdoor cooling for the boulevard's key buildings
Pedestrian walkways, restaurant frontages, and outdoor retail along Lusail's boulevard, cooled so the street trades through the summer.
Retail & Malls · The Pearl, Doha
Outdoor cooling for the central courtyard
A premium courtyard cooled through buried HDPE BlueDuct at R-10: lightweight, corrosion-free, and invisible once the stone went down.
The same four stages scale from a single restaurant terrace to a boulevard. What changes is the plant size and where the duct can run; what does not change is the target at seated height.
Yes, because the target is not the air above the terrace but the air around the seat. The CFD studies are run at the design ambient, and the balance report records the temperature at 1.2 metres under it. The seated zone holds in the low-to-mid twenties while the ambient is in the high thirties.
No. High-pressure misting sprays water into the air and onto people; it is a different, lighter tool. Our systems cool the air indirectly inside the plant and deliver it dry, so furniture, stone, and guests stay dry.
Less than refrigerating the same air from scratch. The indirect evaporative stage does most of the cooling on fan power and water, and the coil only trims the last few degrees. Controls run the plant to the booking pattern, not around the clock.
Like the terrace. The plant is in a plant room or on a roof, the ducts are under the paving, and the grilles are designed into the floor or the planters in polycarbonate or stainless steel to match the finishes.
The intake filtration is sized for a Gulf site, the underground duct is sealed, and the grilles are low-velocity so they do not lift dust. Maintenance is a filter and media schedule we set at handover.
Usually. The duct needs a trench under the paving and the plant needs a home nearby. We survey, model, and tell you what the terrace can take before you commit.
We come back with a CFD model of your space at its design ambient, a plant list, a duct route under the paving, and a programme that opens the terrace once. The capability statement carries the method and the references in a form you can forward.