DUBAI-BASED Blue Stream Environmental Technology, a leading designer and manufacturer of street furniture and urban décor receptacles in the Middle East and South Asia, recently collaborated with property developer Nakheel to enhance The Palm Jumeirah’s urban landscape.

Blue Stream worked with Nakheel to design the urban décor litter receptacles on the crescent of The Palm, said Suvarna Jeetendra, managing director of Blue Stream.

“The crescent is one of the most visited locations on The Palm and sees a heavy pedestrian traffic flow on a day-to-day basis including local residents, tourists staying in hotels on The Palm as well as tourists staying in other parts of Dubai.

“The collaboration began with the idea of designing a litter receptacle that not just adheres to the standards of beautification on The Palm but also integrates well into the existing urban landscape,” he said.

The design of the bins was based on two major aspects, namely aesthetics and functionality.

“The clear ambition here,” he said, “was to contain the high volume of waste being generated by incoming visitors as well as ensure that these litter receptacles are easy to use, considering they are emptied frequently by the facilities management personnel.

“This had to be coupled with the fact that the bins had to be made vandalproof so as to ensure the waste was not tampered with. The bins are also designed with a secure lock and key access, to guarantee proper handling of waste. These bins were bolted and anchored to the ground, making sure their position is not tampered with by anybody,” Jeetendra said.

The design of the bin complements the urban landscape. It is also complemented by an ashtray pedestal as it is placed in an area where smoking is permitted.

The receptacle positions were decided by Nakheel to ensure easy proximity to visitors and pedestrians and spaced at regular intervals. The bins have also been labelled serially to keep an active inventory of the bins at any point of time.

“The most critical aspect of the receptacle was in ensuring that it is highly resistant to the corrosive environment on the crescent of The Palm. The crescent protrudes into the sea itself and is subjected on a daily basis to extremely moist corrosive and saline sea breeze, which can play a major role in degenerating and corroding metal products placed in the vicinity,” he explained.

To tackle these challenges, Blue Stream worked on special coating protection and manufacturing processes to ensure that the material of the bin can withstand this kind of environment.

“The end result is that the urban litter receptacles blends seamlessly into the existing urban landscape, while proving to be a visually appealing aspect of the current landscape.

“This is one of the few ways where an existing development has seen an enhancement of its public spaces by simple implementation of urban receptacles and street furnishings that can add phenomenal value to the project,” he concluded.

Located in Dubai, The Palm Jumeirah is an artificial archipelago developed by Nakheel and home to a number of luxurious hotels and resorts. It also houses a wide variety of world-class residential and commercial projects, which are close to completion. Its most prominent feature is the five-star aqua-themed hotel Atlantis.

The man-made island stretches into the Arabian Gulf in the shape of a palm tree and consists of a trunk, a crown with 16 fronds, and a surrounding crescent island that forms an 11-km-long breakwater. The island’s total area is estimated to be larger than 800 football pitches, making it the world’s largest artificial island.