An ambitious master plan

An ambitious architectural master plan by Bruce Henderson Architects would transform the east side of the famed Rock of Gibraltar, which is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea.

An architectural master plan inspired by iconic topography

The Rock’s iconic topography and a vision for engagement with the land form and sea edge informed the master plan for a mixed-use development that includes residential apartments, commercial space, retail, hotels and carparks.

In the proposal, varying degrees of scale are used as a direct design response to the imposing Rock location. The built forms’ shaping, geometry, graduation and the environmental aspects all take their cues from the site.

A vibrant, green city by the water

The architectural master plan would see the site split into 13 distinct plot areas of varying size and separated by internal roads.

Within these plot areas, the buildings vary in height – peaking at 36 levels, well below the scale of the rock behind. Podium levels at street scale would contain green spaces to provide pedestrian activity and recreation options. 

Retail, commercial office, hotel and residential apartments are clustered in calculated ratios to create the atmosphere of a vibrant city by the water.

Reclaimed land to maximise mixed use opportunities

The development has an existing land area of approximately 70,000 sqm. An additional 48,500 sqm of reclaimed land would front the proposed boating harbour, with the total sea wall length surrounding the harbour approximately 1400 metres. 

Designed for development staging

The building compositions and forms vary depending on their locations within the site. The vision of the development is for it to be staged in eight phases.