The strategy began with analysis of how people arrive, move through and occupy the development at different scales. Vehicular and pedestrian circulation were mapped from wider city connections through neighbourhood streets, parks and local destinations.

This established a cognitive framework for the masterplan. Architecture, landscape, public art, welcome moments and physical signage were treated as connected navigational layers, with signs introduced where additional information was required rather than used as the sole means of orientation.

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District naming, orientation and visual identity were developed as part of the navigation framework. A colour system inspired by the Omani landscape differentiates primary neighbourhoods and provides another reference for understanding location within the wider city.

The visual language also draws on Omani cultural and environmental references, including traditional craft, textiles, pottery, fishing traditions, rock carvings, archaeology and landscape. These references informed pattern, material and graphic development across the system.

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Public art was developed at three scales. Larger interventions mark principal arrivals, secondary works identify important entrances and district thresholds, and integrated pieces sit within landscape and everyday movement routes.

Placement responds to the character of different areas across the development. The artworks therefore operate alongside naming, colour, spatial hierarchy and physical signage as part of the wider place and navigation framework.

Concept development explored references from Omani architecture and archaeology, including mashrabiya patterns and relationships between light and shadow. The final direction drew more directly from natural water features across the site.

Translucent forms and three-dimensional sandblasted surfaces were used to connect material, light and texture within the physical signage language.

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