Project Details
Site name: | Wadi Rum UFO Luxotel |
Built year: | 2019 |
Built duration: | 2 months |
Sector & Tent size: | 4*12m, 2*10m, 2*8m 30*5+6m connected dome tents |
Use: | Dining & Accommodation |
Location: | Wadi Rum Protected Area, Wadi Rum Village, Jordan |
Case Background
Wadi Rum is a valley in southern Jordan with a typical desert climate. It hardly ever rains here, and the temperature can change a lot from day to night. Strong winds, sand, and the shifting of the earth’s plates have shaped Wadi Rum into a place with beautiful canyons, cliffs, and caves. These unique landscapes have made it a popular spot for movie crews shooting alien scenes.
The tourism industry in Wadi Rum has grown quickly, bringing many visitors who come to camp. As tourism grew, several campsites were created, including Wadi Rum UFO Luxotel. During the construction of this campsite, they teamed up with Glitzcamp to build several special desert tents, giving visitors a unique experience where they can truly connect with the desert.
What Makes Our Dome Desert Tents Stand Out?
Wadi Rum UFO Luxotel chose to work with Glitzcamp because of our unique desert tent designs and exquisite manufacturing technology. Unlike traditional desert camping tents, the dome tents we created for Wadi Rum UFO Luxotel offer superior functionality and features in every way, making them the best tent for desert camping.
Superior Structural Stability
Traditional desert tents often have a pointed top with walls made of straight lines and flat surfaces. While this design can handle some wind and sand, it has its limitations. In contrast, Glitzcamp’s desert tents use a streamlined dome-shaped structure. The rounded shape helps reduce sand buildup on the surface and better disperses wind pressure.
Additionally, the tent’s frame is built with a triangular structure, which is one of the most stable shapes in geometry. This design effectively distributes external pressure, making the structure more stable. With Glitzcamp’s design, the dome desert tents can withstand wind speeds of up to 120 km/h.
Unique Appearance
The dome desert tent designed by Glitzcamp breaks people’s impression of tent structure. Unlike the traditional desert tent, the dome tent presents a soft spherical shape, like a dream bubble in the desert. The frame of each layer of the dome is arranged at a uniform angle. People can clearly see the frame of the tent, but they are likely to be attracted by this design with order and symmetry.
Excellent Temperature Regulation
Glitzcamp’s desert tents have a simple interior design, which helps reduce heat loss caused by thermal bridges(Thermal bridges are areas of a building structure that conduct heat, such as wall joints. They cause heat to flow more easily through these areas and be lost). The dome shape also helps by lowering the volume-to-surface ratio, which keeps the temperature and air more stable than traditional designs.
Inside, the tents are lined with insulation sheets that effectively helps manage the large temperature differences between day and night in the desert, making the space more comfortable for guests. This design not only helps regulate the indoor temperature but also reduces the need for long air conditioning use, making it more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.
Ample Interior Space
The interior of Glitzcamp’s dome-shaped tent is simple and has no extra support structures. The walls gently curve upward, creating a spacious feel. The dome design avoids the cramped feeling often found in traditional desert tents, offering plenty of room both horizontally and vertically. Inside, there’s enough space for soft sofas, large tables and chairs, and a comfortable bed. You can also fit stylish bathroom fixtures and a wardrobe, giving the space a cozy, hotel-like atmosphere.
Flexible Design
For the Wadi Rum UFO Luxotel project, we provided four different sizes of dome tents. Unlike typical standalone domes, we designed the 5-meter and 6-meter domes to be connected, which increased the usable space and allowed for more flexible interior layouts. The 8-meter, 10-meter, and 12-meter domes were also connected and used as dining areas in the resort.
These domes can be customized in both size and layout to suit different needs. Additionally, we offer customizations for the materials, appearance, and accessories of the domes, helping our clients create the perfect dome tent experience.
Challenges and Solutions
During the design process of dome tent for desert, Glitzcamp faced some challenges. However, our experienced engineering team was able to overcome them with their strong expertise.
Difficult Ground Conditions
In the desert environment of Wadi Rum, building semi-permanent desert tents requires more than just a simple tent deck. Due to the highly mobile sand, it can easily affect the tent’s base and even cover it. To solve this, Glitzcamp’s team designed a steel pile foundation that is driven deep into the ground to provide a stable platform for the tent in desert.
On top of this strong foundation, we raised the platform higher to prevent sand from accumulating. The elevated platform cleverly hides electrical and water systems, ensuring good ventilation and drainage. At the same time, it creates a more comfortable and attractive indoor environment for guests.
Dust and Sand Ingress
To tackle the issue of wind and sand easily entering the tents in Wadi Rum, Glitzcamp implemented two effective solutions in the design of our dome tents.
First, we used aluminum strips at the base of the tent, securely fastening them with screws to both the bottom of the tent fabric and the deck surface. This design not only stabilizes the tent fabric but also prevents sand and even water from getting inside.
Secondly, to further reduce the chance of wind and sand entering, we extended the door frame of the dome tent. This adjustment minimizes the amount of sand that can blow in when the door is opened or closed. Together, these solutions create a cleaner and easier-to-maintain interior environment for the tent in desert.
Project Outcomes
After Glitzcamp dome desert tents were set up at Wadi Rum UFO Luxotel, the resort quickly opened its doors and welcomed a large number of visitors eager to experience desert camping. The unique design of the connected desert tents helped the resort stand out among many similar ones, giving it a distinct charm. The resort received high ratings on major platforms, with many guests specifically coming to experience the one-of-a-kind desert tents.