Doha: The 5/6 park taking shape in Onaiza boats of vast green spaces and will offer many facilities for everyone. To boost the local manufactures 65 percent of material used to build the park were sourced locally.
Located in Onaiza area, the park is centered between many vital tourist and commercial spots in the country such as Al Dafna, Lusail, Katara, among others.
5/6 Park contains lots of features distinct from other parks in Qatar, including a large plant maze. The maze designed in the shape of Qatar map is located at the heart of the park and will be the attraction for every visitor. The maze’s entrances and exits are named after coastal cities of Qatar and the final shape of the map appears clearly when viewed from above and nearby hotels, adorned with fancy lighting to illuminate at night.
There is a 5-metre-high hill right next to the maze in the middle of the park, which will provide a 360-degree view of the park.
Among other distinct features of 5/6 Park is the ‘symbol of resilience’ (Sumood), designed by Faisal Al Hajri, a Qatari fine artist.
Artworks inside the park also include a collection of two pieces from Mathhaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, namely “Poems” (1963-1965) and “Poem in Three Verses” (1963-1965) by the Lebanese fine artist Saloua Raouda Choucair.
The park has many facilities for visitors and tourists like shaded areas for families to sit, play areas for children with games suitable for different age groups, areas designated for celebrations and spaces to display various forms of artworks, in addition to areas for fitness equipment.
It also has pedestrian paths of approximately 1.4 km, jogging paths of 1.4 km and a 1.1 km-long cycle path, in addition to bicycle parking slots. Stone and sand paths were also constructed for pedestrians, which is first of its kind in public parks, allowing visitors enjoy a healthy walking experience without shoes on several types of natural floors.
The park will have many utilities and service kiosks such as restaurants, cafes, washrooms and prayer areas among others. This is in addition to the columns designated for feeding birds and distributed throughout the park.
The park contains open green areas of about 122,000 square metres. It also includes lots of small shrubs and tree fences. 10% of the trees planted in the park are of Qatari origin such as Ziziphus Spina Christi, Acacia Tortilis and Acacia Arabica. These trees provide a cool shaded atmosphere and outshine Qatari identity.
Planting trees suitable for Qatari Environment
The trees for plantation in the park were chosen in consideration of the nature of Qatari environment, taking into account less water consumption and future maintenance works.
The trees chosen include the Ziziphus Spina Christi, Acacia Tortilis and Acacia Arabica, which are evergreen trees with a height of more than 10 metres and grow excellently in Qatar and withstand environmental conditions from high temperature and drought.
Among other trees chosen are Cassia Nodosa, Delonix Regia, Tabebuia Argentea and Cassia Gluca. They are beautiful and attractive shade trees with a height of 10 metres and are distinguished for growing well and resisting drought. Also, among the shade trees included in 5/6 park are the Bucida Buceras, Millingtonia and ficus benghalensis which are among the evergreen trees ranging between 6 to 10 metres and are considered one of the greatest and wonderful shade trees in public parks. In addition, Ficus religiosa is chosen and reaches up to 30 metres in height and suitable for the Qatari environment as they bear most types of soil and are used in the park individually.
It also has decorative trees planted alone or in groups, or as backgrounds behind young shrubs and flowers such as Cassia Javancia and Bauhinia Purpurea.
Local Materials
To support local manufacturers, the Supervisory Committee for Beautification of Roads and Public Places in Qatar has used 65 percent locally produced materials in constructing the park. The local elements used included Curbstone tiles, asphalt and lightings, in addition to planting materials of trees, grass, different plants and sweet soils, and locally-made rubber floors known as SBR were used as a recycled rubber layer for the jogging tracks.
