Thermal comfort in the UAE depends on 24/7 air-conditioned space, where the indoor temperature is often set under 20 °C. The extreme temperature difference between indoor and outdoor during the day always keeps people inside. New buildings tend to become a vast air-conditioned structure encompassing all activities. Inhabitants thus become less and less exposed to the natural environment.

The project questions the norm of thermal comfort. Instead of ever enlarging air-conditioned space to prevent sudden thermal changes, all(zone) proposes a transitional climatic space to mediate the temperature difference between inside and outside. The intricate fabric roof uses the principle of passive cooling to cover the courtyard adjacent to an air-conditioned gallery in the Al-Qasimiyah School, and create a transitional space. During the day, the heat from the ground is reduced by the shade of the roof in the courtyard. The outdoor air is thus cooled down, reducing the temperature difference. During the night, when the air temperature above the ground drops greatly, the ground's residual heat is transferred to the atmosphere via the porous pattern of the fabric roof.