Work on site for the Oman Botanic Garden is expected to start imminently after designs for the scheme were revealed by the project’s architects and engineers.

The details were released by a UK team of Arup, Grimshaw and Haley Sharpe Design (hsd), that has delivered the engineering, landscaping, architecture and interpretative designs.

Located 35 kilometres from Muscat in the foothills of the Hajjar Mountains, the 4.2 square-kilometre Oman Botanic Garden will be the largest of its kind in the world.

The gardens have eight defined areas for the different habitats of Oman. Two of the more sensitive habitats are enclosed within separate biomes to mimic their natural temperature and humidity.

The Northern Biome re-creates the varied habitats of the Northern Mountains. The Southern Biome will be home to the habitats found in the Dhofar region with a moist and green forest Khareef setting.

The buildings, along with the garden site, have been designed to be LEED Platinum with particular attention paid to water conservation.

The project client is the Diwan of Royal Court.

MEED reported that Muscat was planning to build the Oman Botanic Gardens in 2007.