Gulf Holding Company (GHC) has launched the $450 million Villamar at the Harbour, claimed to be Bahrain’s most advanced and exclusive residential complex yet, at the Bahrain Financial Harbour (BFH).

The first residential development within BFH and located on a site of more than 32,000 sq m, Villamar contains three design elements: the Twisting Towers, the Floating Villas and the Terraced Podium. Scheduled for completion in June 2009, the development will comprise 494 one- to four-bedroom apartments, 54 villas and six penthouses. Facilities include a rooftop chairman’s club, health club and spa, swimming pools, tennis courts and other recreational amenities. A boardwalk will host cafes, restaurants and other leisure facilities at the water’s edge.
“We commissioned a highly-regarded international firm of architects, Norr Group, part of Ingenium Group, one of Canada’s largest design and construction firms, to create a superior and dramatic design for Villamar that would maintain the overall look of the BFH buildings,” explains Ahmed Al Ameer, vice chairman of GHC.
“The launch of Villamar at the Harbour, along with our previous investment in the downtown Al Areen development, brings GHC’s total real estate investment in Bahrain to $900 million. Our focus over the next year or so is to complete these two large-scale developments in addition to identifying new investment propositions,” he adds.
The design director of the Norr Group, Yahya Jan comments: “The three gently Twisting Towers which face the sea are undoubtedly dramatic, ranging in height from 47 floors to 57 floors, and are clad in blue-green tinted glass to reflect the natural colour of the seas off the Bahrain coastline.”
The villas are four storeys above the ground within a self-contained building at the perimeter of the project. Supported by their own elevator towers, these unique floating four- to five-bedroom villas feature double-height living spaces, balconies and terraces with superb views of the boardwalk and the sea.
The podium is a series of landscaped terraces dropping towards the sea, featuring parks, pools and water walls. A health club and spa is located on the uppermost terrace providing unobstructed sea views, with parking for 1,800 cars provided discreetly within the podium terraces.
The boardwalk will be a major public attraction, featuring indoor and outdoor cafes, restaurants and boutique retail spaces, shaded and air-cooled walkways, dancing water features and landscaped plazas.
Meanwhile Bahrain District Cooling Company, also known as Tabreed Bahrain - a subsidiary of the UAE’s award-winning district cooling pioneer - has signed its largest-ever contract in the kingdom to provide cooling services to BFH. The project, which will be fed by the company’s North Shore District Cooling Network, will provide about 30,000 tons of refrigeration (TR) to the entire $1.3 billion BFH master-planned development.
The first phase of the BFH project – the Financial Centre – is currently progressing ahead of schedule with over 75 per cent of the construction having been completed by May, and is due to be ready by the beginning of next year.