Rotterdam-based architecture studio MVRDV has unveiled its design for a new mixed-use development in Abu Dhabi, Pixel, complete with residential, working, and retail components.

The 76,000m2 development is set to become the firm’s first project in the UAE, and is located in the 18-hectare masterplan called the Makers District, designed by Danish architects BIG. The masterplan is developed by IMKAN Properties on Abu Dhabi’s Reem Island, and is located opposite to Saadiyat Island’s Cultural District.

Pixel consists of seven mid-rise towers which will be home to retail, office, co-working and community spaces on the ground and lower levels, while a mix of 480 residential units are set on the upper floors.

“As part of the waterfront development Makers District, Pixel will offer contemporary living in a dynamic setting for future residents, as well as both local and international creatives”, says Jacob van Rijs, MVRDV co-founder.

“All of the towers façades combine concrete with luminous pearly ceramics on the inside, a nod to the region’s pearl diving heritage; and they will be a vibrant and engaging community for creativity, learning and forward living.’’

The towers appear as a “valley of erupted towers” that create a village-like atmosphere, with spaces and roof decks that expose the central plaza and heart of the Makers District.

“Far from being a traditional residential project, future residents and visitors will have access to amenities and services: retail, co-working, artisanal, community and commercial space surround the central plaza at the ground, first and second floors, with the smallest commercial units at 50m2 specifically targeting young start-ups and entrepreneurs. These lower level functions interlock with apartments on the upper floors,” stated a release by the architects.

The facades of all seven towers include a blend of natural ceramics and concrete to reflect local climatic conditions, taking into consideration local sun and wind conditions, as well as maximising waterfront views.

The heart of the project includes a fully pedestrianised plaza, around which all the seven buildings are arranged. The plaza is accessible from multiple points while maintaining a volumetric direction that steers a larger flow of people from the adjacent beach, as well as the waterfront promenade, marina and public event space “The-Artery”, towards the city.

MVRDV is working with engineering company Ramboll Middle East as lead consultant and local architecture firm Dewan on project management.

The project is scheduled for completion by 2020.

Italian architecture firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel has completed the architecture and interior design of the newly opened Bulgari Resort in Dubai, resembling a traditional seaside village in southern Italy.

The 1.4m square foot property is located on the seahorse-shaped Jumeirah Bay island, connected by a 300m bridge to the city’s centre.

In addition to the resort, the development also includes six residential buildings of 173 sea-facing apartments, 15 private mansions, a beach club, and the brand’s first Marina and Yacht Club.

A coral texture characterises the two main buildings of the hotel. Created on the overlay of horizontal lines, the building facade is defined by coral-like brise soleils (sunscreens) or matte white lacquered steel parapets.  In addition to serving their function in providing shade from the hot sun, the sunscreens also reference shading techniques in the Middle East.

While some aspects of the project aim to block the sun, others such as the light colour palette and large glass windows utilise natural daylight.

The interior surfaces of the resort are clad in fine oak wood, featuring long thin planks, that recall the deck of a ship.

The overall merges inspiration from southern Italy and Roman architecture with elements and colour palette of the desert landscape in the Middle East.

The use of limestone across the project is reminiscent of the golden sand of the desert, as well as the architecture typologies found in the south of Italy. Lava stone and basalt paving create a contrast between public and private spaces, treated as an “inner urban environment”.

Throughout the property, a repeated use of ‘Maglia Pantheon’ mesh patterns are used as a nod to the ornamentation on the floor of the Roman Pantheon, a classic example of Baroque Rome, featuring an intricate bronze lattice-work. Bulgari’s eight-point star motif, inspired by the Campidoglio floor in Rome, is used in the lobby of the resort- a familiar emblem of the brand.

The ‘Maglia Pantheon’ pattern is echoed in other places across the project including the light fixtures, the space divider screen in the lobby, as well as as backdrop and table divider in the Il Ristorante restaurant.

Marble is used extensively across the design, with the architects and artisans on the project hand-selecting singular marble slabs at quarries from various parts of the world.

The external walls of the resort are made from Arabescato marble from the Italian city of Carrara. The lobby features Breccia medicea while Calacatta Voila is used across the La Galleria floors.

Other types of marble from Mongolia and Brazil are used in the public area floors of the resort as well as the walls of the boardroom.

In the spa, the reception desk is made of Green Onyx from Iran cut with a ‘book matched’ technique that allows a near mirror image of its veins. The material is also featured in the hamman walls, alongside Aphyon marble from Turkey.

The villas, with walls made of limestone from India, also feature private pools made of rare Green Sukabumi stone from Indonesia.

The residences are defined by overlapping wooden terraces that continue the patterns of the facade and are interspersed with large glazed sliding doors.

The landscaping includes a selection of native and imported plants including palms, olive and lemon trees, rosemary bushes and flowers.

The resort itself includes 101 hotel rooms and suites and 20 hotel villas, furnished with Italian luxury brands such as Maxalto, Flos, Flexform, and B&B Italia, in an effort to express the ‘Made in Italy’ quality of the hotel and its design. All rooms and suites include large balconies and floor-length windows that overlook the sea and Dubai’s skyline.

Colour company Pantone has named a Ultra Voilet as colour of the year for 2018. The bright purple hue was described by Pantone as a “a dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade”.

“The selection of Ultra Violet speaks to our shared desire for deeper understanding in an increasingly complex landscape, and our eagerness to experiment to reach that level,” said the company.

The colour of the year is announced annually in December by Pantone, based on its trend-forecasting research conducted by the Pantone Color Institute.

“Ultra Violet’s association with forward-thinking vision has made it a source of inspiration for the most innovative players in business and technology,” Pantone said.

“Companies as large as NBCUniversal, as culturally resonant as Instagram, and as burgeoning as Twitch have weaved purple shades into their brand identity as a symbol of their commitment to challenging what’s possible in their respective arenas.”

Last year, Pantone had chosen a “tangy yellow-green” shade called Greenery as the colour of the year, and in 2016, for the first time, the company picked two pastel shades: Rose Quartz and Serenity. 

The misconception of the term ‘value engineering’ in interior design was discussed during a panel discussion during the 2017 designMENA Summit.

The panel included Tarek Ardakani, director of operations at Emkay Interiors; David Lessard, director of hospitality at Perkins+Will; David Daniels, director of architecture at SSH; Niel Van Der Veen, principal at RMJM; and Elizabeth Valkovics, head of business and project director at Kristina Zanic Consultants.

Ardakani said that in order to positively implement value engineering positively, designers and contractors need to work together.

“As fit out contractors we work with consultants in understanding the concept and understanding the scheme. When it comes to value engineering that helps,” he explained.

Commenting on the notion of value engineering, Valkovics said: “Personally for me the larger aspect [of value engineering] is the word ‘value’. People aren’t talking enough about it. From a hospitality point of view it’s the value put on the end user, it’s the experience – lets focus on that .

“There’s too focus on it being about the bottomline rather than what are we viewing here. There is not enough chat about what is the value experience for the end user,” she added, explaining that conversation about budget between client and designer should take place from the beginning in order to enable creativity within a specific price frame.

Van Der Veen agreed: “Designing to budget is value engineering. Cost cutting that people call value engineering has nothing to do with design whatsoever. I think the most important part to consider here is the idea of creativity.

“Designing to budget is not about losing creativity. And I think that is something that the industry in the Gulf region really needs to work on. In South Africa where I come from, or Spain or Portugal or other places, budgets are really small. When we talk about tight budgets here, no, we do not have tight budgets in the Gulf! We are just not used to client budgets.

“There is a series of things that come into play while creating a design. Budget is just one part of it. Actually the harder the budget, the more creative you are forced to be. And the more value you add to the design,” he explained.

The designers also discussed the difference between value engineering and cost cutting, highlighting that while the two notions are often passed as the same thing, they are in fact, not.

“Value engineering tends to happen at the end of the project, but it should start on day one,” said Daniels.

“Out here, it means that you basically want to replace it with something cheaper,” Lessard added, to which Daniels replied: “That is not value engineering. That is cost cutting.”

Bee’ah commemorated the completion of the highest point of its new Zaha Hadid-designed headquarters with a topping out ceremony, held earlier this month at the site in Al Saj’ah.

Bee’ah says the event indicates the progress of the project, and is on course for a Q4 2018 opening.

The steelwork for the massive structure has been completed, while the architectural concrete dome which forms the centrepiece of the project has been put in place.

Construction on external envelopes for the roof and walls is ongoing. The main structure of the visitors’ centre and of the Main Dune is complete, while that of the standalone energy centre is 50% complete.

The new Bee’ah HQ has been created with an environmentally sound structure, which will have minimal negative impact on the environment, across its lifetime, the company said.

“I believe that we cannot envision a future of being a sustainable city, without advancements in green architecture. Through our HQ project, we have formed partnerships with some of the world’s most renowned entities, to examine as to how we can maximise the potential for sustainability in the built environment,” said HE Salim Al Owais, chairman of Bee’ah.

“With its ultra-low carbon footprint, minimal water and energy usage and the efficient recycling of construction materials, this project will set a benchmark for all future green construction projects in the Gulf region. It is also a model for a green building system that can be replicated across the UAE, as the nation seeks to transition into a green economy,” he said.

In addition to being completely powered by renewable energy, the new headquarters uses products like recycled aggregate in construction, incorporates energy and water saving fixtures, maximises the benefit of natural elements like sunlight and winds for heating and cooling, utilises native vegetation for landscaping, and ensures reuse of greywater.

The design features a fleet of sweeping “sand dunes” oriented to optimise the prevailing Shamal winds as well as limiting the quantity of glazing exposed to the sun.

It also includes two primary dunes-shaped structures that will house the public, management and administrative section, connecting through a central courtyard “oasis” inside the building.

View renders of the interiors of Hadid’s Bee’ah project on designMENA. 

Converting shipping containers into homes for displaced persons is the aim of Sheltainer, a project initiated by architects Ahmed Hammad, Mouaz Abouzaid and Bassel Omara.

Architect Bassel Omara presented the proposal to an audience of design and architecture professionals at the 2017 designMENA Summit, which took place on 5 December in Dubai.

Refugees, asylum seekers, students and people of low incomes are among the categories the team are looking to assist, he explained.

The designers have used as a base for their creations the standard 20ft container, as well as the smaller 10ft variety and the larger 40ft crate.

Sheltainer designs can be adapted to any environment due to their flexibility and the fact that containers provide excellent insulation.

The architects explained their reasons for choosing the crates, saying said there are 30 million unused containers in the world.

If they were laid end-to-end they would circle the world more than twice – and around 20 million travel the oceans each year. With populations increasing, this figure is set to expand.

The architects said: “Home is not a place, it’s a feeling. People are connected to their homeland. Growing up in an environment with family and friends fuels people’s souls with a promising future. But being forced out [of homes] due to starvation, the economy, or even politics starts to create insecurity.

“Twenty people are newly displaced every minute of the day, that becomes a challenge to provide a stable community which copes with these rapid changes.”

The team highlighted the issue in two countries, Syria, where more than half the population was displaced either across borders or within their own country of Egypt last year, and South Sudan , where the refugee population swelled from 854,100 to more than 1.4 million during the second half of 2016. The majority of these are children.

The architects were highly commended for their Sheltainer project at the 2017 Middle East Architect Awards.

Commercial Interior Design (CID) magazine and designMENA brought together members of the Middle East’s design sector supply chain, along with an intellectual property expert, to discuss the ways in which designers can protect themselves from copyright infringement and industrial design theft.

Dubai’s maturing design-and-build market kick-started the discussion at the designMENA Summit advisory panel, which took place at RMJM’s office in Dubai Design District, bringing together members of the local design-and-build industry.

David Daniels, principal architect at SSH, commented that Dubai’s design market had begun showing signs of maturing in the past few years. And let’s be honest – many of us have witnessed some egregious examples of copyright infringement and industrial design theft in the region.

CID’s survey of design professionals suggests both an awareness of the problem, and a lack of knowledge about the potential protection mechanisms. But is the Middle East worse than anywhere else in the world when it comes to the abuse of intellectual property (IP), and what can designers do to protect their works from those who might seek to replicate them without payment or recognition?

Giada Martellato, business development manager UAE, Moroso

To add a quantitative element to the findings of our survey, CID brought together a roundtable of professionals from across the design supply chain to discuss matters of copyright, and their experiences and suggested solutions.

Hilda Impey, associate design director, FF&E at Wilson Associates, kicked off the debate by suggesting that there was a cultural aspect to the issue. “The problem is really the design ethos in the region. Do we educate our designers not to copy? Do we mentor and empower them to design independently? We need to promote an ethical design culture.”

Tarek Ardakani, director of operations at fit-out contractor Emkay Interiors, said that he used to sit on the advisory board for the American University of Dubai’s design department. “We talked to the students about plagiarism. And you can easily tell the difference between the ones who simply copy designs without understanding them, and the students who are developing something of their own.

“When you do research as a design student, you look at magazines and projects to gain ideas. But you don’t end up copying a project,” he insisted.

The panel agreed that the Middle East had something of a ‘Wild West’ reputation when it came to some business behaviours. They also recognised that one of the problems in the Middle East was that copying someone was sometimes taken as a form of flattery, rather than theft. But those attitudes are changing, and the design community is quickly becoming more professional.

Hilda Impey, associate design director, FFE, Wilson Associates

Nevertheless, Indu Varanasi, design director at IR Design, warned: “In this age of Instagram and Pinterest, there is the idea of free design. People are happy to pay for construction, because that is tangible, but they think design is ‘just a piece of paper’.”

She also suggested that the fact that interior designers were not ‘registered’ in the same way as architects meant their works were less respected in terms of copyright.

Giada Martellato, business development manager UAE for Moroso, represented designer furniture manufacturers. She said: “In Europe, you don’t see so much copying of designs. But here we have the feeling that it just doesn’t work,” adding that she had seen copies of her company’s designs in showrooms in the Middle East.

“Once, at a trade fair here, I saw our designs presented by a Chinese firm. We told them that they were our designs, but they said the products were all over the internet, so they were available for everybody!

“I feel like there is no law that can defend our designs. The interior designers are the only ones with the sensibility to say to clients that they need to buy original designs because if you get copies you spoil the whole project.”

THE LAW

At this point, Victor Siriani, managing partner at AVID IP, a company that protects intellectual property in the Middle East, broke into the debate to debunk some myths: “The impression that the law here does not protect designers is, to a great degree, incorrect. The laws here are pretty much the same as in the US, Europe, and Canada. They are very strong. The law is the law, and the courts have to implement the law. The problem is that people don’t realise that, so they don’t protect their rights.”

Indu Varanasi, design director, IR Design

Siriani explained the difference between industrial design protection and copyright: “If you are not registering your industrial designs in the UAE, then you cannot be protected. But with copyrights, you don’t need to register to protect yourself. The second you create something, you gain copyright automatically in 198 countries. If someone in Australia copies it, you can sue them.”

He added that some countries, including the UAE, recommended registration of copyrights if only to simplify the process in case of infringement, and to act as a deterrent. “Depending on the size of the project and how valuable it is to you, then you might want to record it with the Ministry.

“You have to stand up for your rights,” said Siriani. “The police don’t go around making sure that people aren’t copying your work. You have to be vigilant and, when you find something, the first step is to speak to the people who copied you. No one wants to go to court. But if they don’t want to admit it, or compensate you, then you have the courts, [which can] resolve matters and award damages.

“But it’s up to you to take the first step.”

Prevention is always better than cure, and one roundtable participant shared a disclaimer that her company uses with clients, which states that the firm “will not be able to review shop drawings, nor approve any items which are taken from original designs and infringe on copyright laws”.

Siriani said that, as well as registering designs, non-disclosure agreements were another good way for designers to protect themselves. “But some people won’t sign them. So you can use statements in your emails that the content in the attachments is copyright protected, and that by opening them [the receiver] agrees to abide by the laws of the UAE and not reproduce them, and so on.

Tarek Ardakani, director- operations, Emkay Interiors

“It’s not going to stop someone from stealing your design, but if you do go to court, these are all items you can use to improve your case.”

TO SUE OR NOT TO SUE

Martellato echoed the thoughts of many survey participants by saying that she would be concerned about suing someone, both in terms of the potential cost, and the risk of upsetting influential potential clients. “I don’t want to sue the client, because they might be my client on another project – you can never know the future opportunities.”

“It’s a business decision,” conceded Siriani “Whether you decide to sue or not is a matter that only you can assess.”

He also warned, however, that companies that developed a reputation for not suing “leave themselves wide open”.

On the other side of the same coin, there were some clients that CID’s survey respondents and panellists said they would not work with because of their reputation for infringing copyright. Varanasi said: “If the client has the time to assess whether I’m good for the job, then I have the right to assess whether the client is good for me. Protecting and safeguarding my designs is a big part of that.”

Victor Siriani, managing partner, AVID IP

Impey added that developing a reputation as a company that doesn’t tolerate bad practice could be beneficial in terms of winning work, trust, and collaboration. “When some firms ask for a CAD file, a lot of companies will not give it to them, but they give it to us. Why? Because I think we are very open and honest.

“You surround yourself with people and contractors that work in the same way you work. When we select a contractor, we choose one that we believe we can work with. If we are made aware that they are known to copy, we would prefer not to work with them.”

The discussion concluded with the idea that if all parties to design projects – designers, contractors, and suppliers – started implementing clear disclaimers in their contracts and properly protecting their rights, then clients would become more aware of their own responsibilities, and less likely to authorise or condone copyright infringement.

“If everyone is applying the same model, and taking this seriously, things will change,” they agreed.

READ MORE: Middle East design scene: are we there yet?

The absence of a hotel background has helped shape Bulgari Resorts around the world as design and architecture-led properties, said Silvio Ursini, executive vice president of Bulgari, in charge of Bulgari Hotels & Resorts worldwide.

“We don’t come from a hotel background which is a great advantage if you want to do something extraordinary because if you come from a hotel industry you will have a hotel architect and hotel furniture and hotel details,” explained Ursini.

“In our case, no. We want to craft the home of the Bulgari brand and we start from the designers. We have appointed Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel, the foremost Italian residential designers to craft our hotels from the very beginning, again keeping with consistency of our properties,” he said.

Italian architecture firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel has completed the architecture and interior design of the newly opened Bulgari Resort in Dubai, resembling a traditional seaside village in southern Italy. The architects have also spearheaded all other Bulgari developments around the world, keeping with the consistency of the brand and its aesthetics and design language.

“We used rare materials which are considered very difficult in the hotel industry. We used details including furniture and fixtures that are not hotel-related furniture and fixtures: they are Italian residential and retail products. [They are] products that have taken many years to create, from prototyping to manufacturing, applying the traditions of Italian craftsmanship,” Ursini said.

“The early sketches of the building from Antonio and Patricia started off with a vision of a low rise and very thin staggered and layered floors. As Italians we don’t do blocks. We do things that try to be more interesting, have a relationship with the place,” Ursini explained.

“The way Patricia and Antonio strung the six residential buildings around the marina was inspired by a Bulgari-designed emerald necklace,” he added.

A coral texture characterises the two main buildings of the hotel. Created on the overlay of horizontal lines, the building facade is defined by coral-like brise soleils (sunscreens) or matte white lacquered steel parapets.  In addition to serving their function in providing shade from the hot sun, the sunscreens also reference shading techniques in the Middle East.

While some aspects of the project aim to block the sun, others such as the light colour palette and large glass windows utilise natural daylight.

The overall design merges inspiration from southern Italy and Roman architecture with elements and colour palette of the desert landscape in the Middle East.

“It is very dangerous to touch Middle Eastern design and heritage and culture because the risk of becoming cliché is huge and is potentially dangerous. We believe that we have approached it in a different way,” Ursini said.

“We have used a brand new coral-inspired shading to evoke the necessary shading in the Middle East in a way that is innovative. We have also used the Bulgari pattern in a different way, layering it so you have these transparencies. And we have involved craftsmen from Morocco to design the carpets.”

“The Middle Eastern inspiration was about being respectful and not cliché,” he added.

Read more about the design and architecture of the newly opened Bulgari Resort in Dubai on designMENA. 

workspace exhibition, dedicated to office interiors and furniture, have conducted a survey that revealed that 70% of respondents would turn down a job offer if the office is badly designed.

Put to almost 2000 people, the majority of candidates responded that they would opt for an office that is well designed and aesthetically pleasing, “reasserting the growing theory that millennial employees are more focused on quality of work life experience, rather than salary or company structure”.

Esha Elawadhi, show manager at workspace, said: “The current generation is the first to almost expect employers to invest in the quality of their working environment. As a workforce, we are more aware than ever of the huge benefits in regards to wellbeing and productivity that come with a well-designed office, and know the quality that’s available when it comes to fitting-out a place of work.

“As workspace always seeks to demonstrate, decorating and equipping a modern office or learning space to a high-standard is a job that can be done on any budget – there really is no excuse for having a drab work place interior heading into 2018!”

The survey was conducted in partnership with H2O Concepts/Herman Miller, who specialise in producing office furniture.

Ghanem Ghanem, head of sales at H2O, said: “Companies taking the lead in creating office spaces that are functional, user-friendly and simply enjoyable to be in are offering a whole different working concept and experience to their employees. They are ensuring their staff are comfortable and in surroundings that inspire the best from them, whether that is through the relative formality of a legal office, the open-plan, exposed designer’s space, or the interactive and adoptive uses of a learning environment.

“The ‘Instagram-generation’ knows what’s out there, and if you’re not building an office that meets the needs of the millennial workforce, then there’s every chance your rivals are. Armed with the knowledge of how great offices can be – and at the same time understanding the many benefits a well-designed space brings to their own success and productivity – it’s little surprise 70% of people would be swayed in or out of a job by the office interior.”

Earlier this year, designMENA published a report by Steelcase, which outlined the progress of office trends, starting from the 1800s to today,  and its effects on office design. 

designMENA has also published a number of office designs in Dubai, including Perkins+Will’s Adidas HQ in Dubai Design District, and Swiss Bureau’s IFLIX Office.

Feature image: Sheeraa Entrepreneurship Centre by Pallavi Dean Interiors 

designMENA looks at how design and architecture took centre stage at the 2017 Sole DXB.

Tokyo’s urban fabric and design language was a key theme at this year’s Sole DXB, an event that celebrates footwear, fashion, culture, art and design, set within the Dubai Design District.

First launched in 2010, aside from its celebration of street culture and fashion, the event has held a strong architectural focus. In addition to various brand pavilions and booths, the masterplan and layout of the overall event informs the navigation and its relation to the theme.

First launched in 2010, aside from its celebration of street culture and fashion, the event has held a strong architectural focus. In addition to various brand pavilions and booths, the masterplan and layout of the overall event informs the navigation and its relation to the theme.

Commenting on the importance of design at Sole DXB, Cox said: “The design of the event is one of the central elements of Sole DXB. As owners of the business we could probably get away with doing less and spending less on the design, but in all areas, the graphics, the marketing and the physical design, it is important to the kind of experience we want to put our names to.

“The design and architecture is the foundation element [of the event]. It starts from day one of the 12-month process of putting on a show of this scale, working with a fixed blank concrete slab and building everything from scratch over 10 days.”

Entrance installation at Sole DXB

An installation set at the entrance of this year’s event paid tribute to the urban fabric of Tokyo, namely its street lights and signs.

“Tokyo lights are really something quite special, and we wanted to make a statement that set the tone and transported you into a new world,” said Joshua Cox, co-founder and creative director of Sole DXB.

The installation features stacked shipping containers as the structural foundation, which are integrated with digital screens, acrylic light boxes, flat signs and neon lights.

“There are over 54 different signs, and it was tricky to do safely,” Cox explained. “They were all powered by three regular house sockets. We worked with our creative agency Moloobhoy & Brown to create the graphics of all 54 signs.

“Integrating the screens was a challenge in finding the right size screen in terms of depth at the resolution we wanted. We then rigged a truss and welded hanging plates to be able to attach these,” he said.

Puma at Sole DXB by Light Space Design 

Light Space Design (LSD) has been involved in the architectural planning and designing of Sole DXB since 2014, when the architects were first commissioned to design and oversee the overall masterplan which since led to an annual collaboration. The design studio has worked on a total of nine structures for various brands t the event, including Puma.

This year’s Puma pavilion focused on the idea of creating an experience, rather than being a strictly retail-led space, while also taking into consideration the theme of Tokyo.

Photo Credit: Shadow Photography

The programme combined four spatial elements spread across two floors, including a  a self contained retail store, a flexible ‘night club’-inspired space which features a bar and the back of house on the ground floors, and a internal and external-facing performance space including a stage and bar, set upstairs.

Photo Credit: Hyku D Photography

“This year’s concept took the ideas of modern and traditional Japan, both visually and culturally,” said principal partner, Farid Noufaily.

“The overall structure invokes the traditional joinery aesthetic by taking a simple detail and repeating it until it develops into a complex overall structure. We were fascinated with the idea of layering. The alleyway, a brilliant and ambitions idea [which came about] during our many workshops with the client, became the main artery connecting the different program elements together.

Photo Credit: Shadow Photography

“Regardless of where you are in the structure, there is always a sense of experiencing the different activities taking place. This approach of layering, sound, light, visibility, and activity was what made the concept such a success this year,” Noufaily explained.

Photo Credit: Shadow Photography

The core of the structure is made of four 40ft high cubic containers with MS steel reinforcements and bracing. The overall facade is made using an Light Gauge Steel (LGS) frame system, painted in black, which the architects sourced locally from Ajman.

Photo Credit: Hyku D Photography

“We designed the overall LGS facade to be independent of the steel structure,  although they overlap in certain sections. The design was modeled in 3D and then exported to a proprietary program developed to print the LGS system into sections. These are then assembled at the factory into structures which can be transported to the site on trailers,” explained Noufaily.

Photo Credit: Hyku D Photography

“Once on site, the 20 individual frame structures are put together like a puzzle using assembly drawings/ instructions. It all sounded amazingly easy on paper and in execution, but it was the first time our fabricators had assembled something this complicated in LGS, so it was an interesting learning curve on site for everyone.”

Sustainability was also a strong focus within the overall design of the pavilion, with the architects reusing elements of the structure and other parts of the design from previous years.

“We are proud to say that every year we work tightly with our fabricators to recycle the Puma Sole DXB structure from the year before,” said Noufaily.

“Every year we recycle up to 50 to 60 per cent of all the steel and wood elements in the structure. and whatever we cannot recycle or reuse, we trade or sell back to the various suppliers we work with to minimise waste.

“This strategy is one that both Puma and LSD have had from the first structure we built in 2014. The intention from the beginning was to invest in container structures which would become a flexible base for us to begin every year. The 2014 containers were standard 20ft containers which we used to build the 2015 and 2016 structures.

Photo Credit: Shadow Photography

“Last year we made the active decision to trade in the 20ft containers for the 40ft-high cubes, which would give us taller and larger column-free internal rooms,” he explained.

LSD were also involved in the retail design, also using recycled elements from previous structures for the modular fixtures.

Photo Credit: Shadow Photography

“Working closely with the retail team and specifically the head of retail at Puma Middle East, we were able develop five key retail fixtures which could be combined in over 120 different useful configurations.
The modularity allows for a high degree of flexibility in the displays,” Noufaily said.

LSD has also revealed its plans to branch out into pop-up experiences and event design, with the launch of a new company called X.T.Concepts, which grew from its continued success on working for Sole DXB.

Dior at Sole DXB 

The Dior stand, which was unveiled for the first time this year, focused on the idea of oppositions and contrasts of materials, elements, and shapes.

The Dior logo, which is usually used as a decorative detail, became the structural facade and prominent aspect of the booth, created from wood and painted black. Other materials that are commonly considered light and fragile were used as heavy-weight and defining elements, including paper and thread.

The pavilion itself is set on two levels: the lower level focused on products and retail, while the upstairs terrace hosted private events and musical acts.

Inside, stacks of posters promoting its new BMX bike were used as display support for various products, housed inside a concrete-textured interior.

The overall metal structure features many hundreds of red thread that elevates to the upper lounge terrace, providing shade to the visitors, as well as offering views of the overall environment outside.

Zaha Hadid Architects’ Bee’ah headquarters in Sharjah has recently topped out, and people have taken to Instagram to post the progress of the project.

Steelwork for the massive structure has been completed while the architectural concrete dome, which forms the centrepiece of the project, has been put in place.

Fluid beauty #fluid#beauty#smooth#cast#concrete#rough#elegance#beeah#hq#zahahadidarchitects#design#building#architecture#Sharjah

A post shared by Tariqkhayyat (@tariqkhayyat) on Dec 10, 2017 at 1:28am PST

Construction on external envelopes for the roof and walls is ongoing. The main structure of the visitors’ centre and of the Main Dune is complete, while that of the standalone energy centre is 50% complete.

Beeah HQ #beeahuae #beeah #uae #sharjah #shj #dji #mavic # @beeahuae @beeahsocial

A post shared by محمد بن أحمد العويس (@alowais1983) on Dec 15, 2017 at 9:31pm PST

. احتفلت “بيئة” باكتمال قمة المبنى الرئيسي الجديد اليوم #بيئة #احتفال Bee’ah celebrated the topping out of its iconic new headquarters today #Beeah #Celebration @beeahhq

A post shared by Bee’ah | بيئة (@beeahuae) on Dec 10, 2017 at 4:51am PST

Training wheels came off #beeah #zha #zahahadid #toppingoutceremony #lepetitecottage #sharjah #uae @beeahuae @zahahadidarchitects

A post shared by Drew Merkle (@ramerkle) on Dec 11, 2017 at 10:14am PST

That feeling when the formwork finally comes off #beeah #zha #zahahadid #lepetitecottage #sharjah #uae @beeahhq @zahahadidarchitects

A post shared by Drew Merkle (@ramerkle) on Dec 11, 2017 at 10:24am PST

I just can’t get enough #concrete #dome #beeah #zha #zahahadid #lepetitecottage #pam #sharjah #uae @beeahhq

A post shared by Drew Merkle (@ramerkle) on Dec 13, 2017 at 1:07pm PST

Photographer Aldo Amoretti has captured new images of Zaha Hadid Architects’ long-awaited The Opus tower, located in Dubai’s Business Bay.

Developed by Omniyat, the mixed-use building will include residential and office units as well as the ME by Melia hotel.

The photographs depict the scale of the project, as well as highlighting its central invisible core, ‘the Void’, which gives the building its distinct shape as well as allowing every space of the building to have a view.

“The void is covered by 4500 uniquely designed pieces of glass and LED lights that will become the pulsating heart of the area, especially when it gets dark. With the void we also have the bridge, which consists of three floors of serviced apartments, also designed by Zaha Hadid,” Mohammed Hmeid, director of sales and marketing at Omniyat, told designMENA.

The hotel consists of 250,000 square feet of entertainment zones and 78,000 square feet of F&B outlets,with a total of 12 F&B units.

The building will also include a permanent Zaha Hadid memorial and gallery.

Fit out of the hotel and the F&B outlets is currently taking place, which is scheduled to take around 12 months to complete.

According to Omniyat,the opening of the building is scheduled for September 2018.

Earlier this year, Dubai-based interior design firm Bishop Design LLC revealed details of one of the dining venues at the ME by Melia hotel, which comprises of a an adaptable and versatile experience, transforming from a daytime breakfast venue, to lunch and high tea, through to a night time lounge setting.

A Lebanese snack bar in Montreal, Canada, has been designed to seat as many diners as possible through a variety of wooden tables and benches that respond to its narrow spatial arrangement.

Architect David Dworkind was tasked by owner of the eatery, Patrick Abdelahad, to transform the 162m2 space into a casual dining space, Jouney, named after a coastal town in the north of Beirut.

The design was achieved through the play of various seating options, with benches and tables built from ash wood.

A curved counter allows for single diners seated at the front of the café, whereas a row of rectangular tables on the opposing wall offer banquet seating, while a large table towards the back of the space is designed for group diners.

The wooden table top is held in place and fixed to the floor by a black metal I-beam structure with stools that are supported in the same way.

The balcony on the mezzanine floor features bar stools with views over the café, as well as featuring a lounge-style set up of sofas.

The rest of the space offers exposed industrial-style fittings, including almost five-metre high brick walls, as well as weathered concrete column and floors.

The colour and material scheme is kept neutral to complement the raw elements of the restored design.

A restaurant inspired by Lebanon’s “glory days” has been designed in Dubai,  reflecting a traditional luxurious mansion. 

Related story: KKD redesigns iconic ABC Achrafieh department store in Beirut

British design-duo Fredrikson Stallard had erected a giant sun-like installation in the middle of Dubai Design District (d3) during this year’s Dubai Design Week.

Entitled Prologue, the outdoor installation was first created in 2014. Each Prologue is defined by its location through choice of materials and crystal colours.

Created in collaboration with Swarovski, the Dubai edition featured a  luminous circular sculpture with over 8,000 topaz-colored crystals that reflect and refract the light, mimicking the iconography of the sun.

“There is obviously a reference to the sun which can be seen in this piece which is very relevant here in Dubai,” said Ian Stallard.

“The choice of the steel girders which hold the piece in place  are the same kind of steel girders used in all the buildings and the construction in Dubai. So in that sense it also gives a message of the creation of a new incredible city,” he added.

designMENA caught up with the designers during the event: 

Kuwait artist Tarek Al-Ghoussein’s third solo exhibition in Dubai documents the current state of the government housing complex Al Sawaber in Kuwait, which is currently set for demolition.

Th exhibition, entitled ‘Tarek Al-Ghoussein’s Al-Sawaber Series: Dwellings as the Expression of Those Who Dwell Within Them’ is presented by The Third Line gallery, and curated by Salwa Mikdadi.

Al-Ghoussein documents the demise of the housing development, focusing on the idea of forgotten spaces that are specific to a historical moment in the urban development of Kuwait.

Read full essay by Kevin Mitchell which discusses the architectural and urban significance of Al Sawaber: 

Less that 10 years after oil was discovered in Kuwait in 1938 the first shipment was exported, and the proceeds were used to fund state-sponsored programs that provide free healthcare, education and housing for citizens. The country also invested in an extraordinary urbanization project, and the first master plan for Kuwait City was completed by Minoprio, Spencely and Macfarlane in 1952. Although aspirations were ambitious in scope and scale, the approach to planning from the 1950s onward has resulted in sprawling low-density neighborhoods that demand dependence on the automobile and necessitate ever-expanding traffic networks.

Fulfilling the government’s aim of providing adequate housing for Kuwaiti citizens has proven challenging. According to Sharifah AlShalfan,the authority responsible for evaluating applications and providing housing faced a backlog of approximately 19,000 applications in 1980.1The inability to keep pace with demand and recognition that higher densities were desirable due to increasing land values in urban areas led the government to consider alternatives to the single-familyhome. Canadian architect Arthur Erikson was invited to submit a proposal for the Al-Sawaber area in Kuwait City in 1977, and he responded by designing a series of stepped housing blocks arranged to form open linear green spaces between buildings.

Although Erikson provided a novel architectural solution that was well considered in many respects, Tarek Al-Ghoussein’s photographs of Al-Sawaber reveal that the complex now stands derelict and in a state of disrepair. Asseel Al-Ragam, in “The Destructionof Modernist Heritage:The Myth of Al-Sawaber”,2provides a comprehensive account of the problems that plagued the project from the beginning and explains that the proposed density was never achieved because only 524 of the proposed 900 apartment units were built. Additionally, commercial enterprises such as restaurants and stores were not integrated, and Erikson’s original proposal was impaired by the omission of a number of key features when the project was handed over to the contractor.

Beyond the compromises made during the initial implementation of Al-Sawaber, the fact that the space provided in the apartments was only one-third of that provided in single-family homes and the lack of a designated diwaniya–or even the possibility of adapting the dwelling to create a male-only social space to be used periodically –imposed significant constraints. The limited space, at least relative to single-family homes, and the absence of a diwaniya not only affected usability, but also likely impacted the resident’s perception of how they may be viewed within their broader social networks.

Regardless of the shortcomings, Al-Sawaber did fulfill a rentier bargain between state and citizen by providing housing; however, the abandonment by residents reveals that the housing never became home. In Human Space, O.F. Bollnow examines the meaning of “homeliness” and considers how it could be created:

“Thus the dwelling becomes the expression of the individual who dwells in it, a piece of this individual which has become a space. Soit can only be inhabitable to the extent that the person in question knows how to dwell in it. One must be able to sense this even in a strange dwelling. The objects in it must be melted into the life of the dweller by the practice of being looked after. […] the dwelling must not only express an individual, but at the same time reflect a long past, if it is to give us a feeling of security and stability in life.”

Al-Sawaber’s spaces failed as residents could not dwell within them. Bollnow maintains that the objects in a dwelling become part of the life of the dweller by being looked after, and these objects –in addition to expressing an individual –provide security and stability. Al-Ghoussein’s photographs present spaces and objects that were once looked after and, rather than being melted into the life of the dwellers, were left behind. The spaces and objects have perhaps been forgotten by the families that once lived in the apartments but, although they no longer form part of the history of the family, spaces and objects nevertheless remain part of the past of Al-Sawaber and reveal intertwined histories of individuals, families, and government-sponsored initiatives to create a community that ultimately proved to be uninhabitable.

While Al-Ghoussein’s images from Al-Sawaber examine abandoned spaces and objects, the photographs neither aestheticize the decay that results from neglect nor dispassionately document found conditions. At first glance there are similarities between the scenes from Al-Sawaber and Robert Polidori’s photographs of the interiors in cities like Beirut, Pripyat, Chernobyl, and New Orleans. The richly textured images of environments where decomposition has been seen in motion by catastrophe or conflict reveal the care taken by Polidori to locate and compose vivid scenes of damage and deterioration. In contrast, rather than focusing on making images that appear as painterly vignettes, Al-Ghoussein considers the relationship between the non-descript apartment units and the individual expressions intended to provide the security and stability essential for “homeliness”.

Al-Ghoussein’s framing of the interior heightens the tension between the standardized apartment and personalized treatment, and results in subtly ironic images that reveal idiosyncratic attempts to make an undesirable dwelling inhabitable. Landscapes are common in the wall treatments throughout Al-Sawaber, whether in the form of fairy-tale castles against pink skies or floral-patterned prints. In more elaborate examples, such as Al Sawaber_0282, an oddly scaled bird inhabits a maple forest complete with falling leaves that have turned from green to yellow and red at the end of summer; although the telephone jack remains concealed under a faux forest floor, the electrical outlet remains as a chrome-plated reminder that the reality of Al-Sawaber is inescapable.

The proliferation of simulated landscapes throughout the apartments in Al-Sawaber is curious in light of the fact that Erikson’s master plan included a large park-like space that extended throughout the project. However, there was no provision for private outdoor space beyond the small covered balconies that resulted in the distinctive façade. Al-Ghoussein’s images of wall surfaces reveal desires to create a home that perceptually extended beyond the constricted space of the apartment and subsumed both interior and an imagined exterior within the private realm.

The objects collected from the apartments provide an intimate impression of the lives of former inhabitants. By decontextualizing the pieces and isolating them in individual photographs, Al-Ghoussein emphasizes their particular –and often peculiar –qualities. Abandonment of the objects calls into question claims of importance for those who once possessed them. Even though the pieces were discarded, they nevertheless reveal part of Al-Sawaber’s complex history as they were presumably, to use Bollnow’s formulation, “melted into the life of the dweller” in the past.

Al-Ghoussein’s Al-Sawaber project is personal, not in the sense of an immediate connection to the buildingcomplex or its previous inhabitants, but in terms of understanding what one is looking at when looking at what remains of one of the Gulf’s few attempts to create high-density government-funded housing. The vast array of spaces and objects within Al-Sawaber make it a rich site of investigation for any photographer, but Al-Ghoussein’s knowledge of Kuwait is evident in the choice of subject matter, as well as in the manner in which spaces and objects are presented. The project may seem to be a departure from Al-Ghoussein’s earlier work but, when viewed in relation to considerations of what constitutes “home”, Al-Sawaber provides a context for extending the exploration of themes related to transience and belonging.

Al-Sawaber will likely be demolished in the near future. Al-Ghoussein’s work is therefore timely as it provides insight into the lives once lived in Al-Sawaber and serves as a record of an important part of the Gulf’s recent past. More significantly, the Al-Sawaber project presents spaces and objects with a sense of irony that never devolves into condescension, resulting in perceptive depictions of how dwellings become the expression of the individuals who dwell within them.

Lebanese designer Nada Debs has designed a series of rugs that bridge the gap between traditional and contemporary design through the theme of love.

Watch video below. 

Photography by Jalal Abuthina (including main image)

The ‘You & I’ collection, commissioned by the Fatma Bint Mohamed Bin Zayed Initiative (FMBI), was created in collaboration with Afghan carpet weavers in Kabul, with whom Debs worked closely to create the desired technique and aesthetic.

Photography by Jalal Abuthina

The rug series merge traditional carpet weaving techniques and patterns with a contemporary application and sensibility, where the two forms are literally “woven together”.

Photography by Jalal Abuthina

Inspired by the love poems of Sufi poet Jalal al-Din Rumi and her own cultural background, the concept behind the collection explores the idea of duality which is ingrained in Debs’ body of work.

Photography by Jalal Abuthina

“In one of his poems, there is a line that says: ‘apparently two, but one in soul’, and what I did was that I took the traditional rug and the modern rug, [which has] different forms and different shapes and textures, and combined them together in a way where the two together still retained their identity, but [also] a third identity is born,” Debs told designMENA.

Debs explains that as the two distinct parts of the carpet weave into one another, elements from one rug is added to the other as a metaphor for two people in love whose personalities merge together.

Photography by Ieva Saudargaite

The carpets includes six colour palettes and are designed to be of functional use across an array of interiors, seating arrangements and furniture layouts. The collection also allows for customisation in the choice of colours and patterns.

Photography by Ieva Saudargaite

Photography by Ieva Saudargaite

FMBI is a humanitarian initiative aimed at empowering and employing women carpet weavers in Afghanistan, highlighting their craft and artisanal capabilities.

The initiative operates entirely within Afghanistan, including buying local wool to support farmers and using natural vegetable dyes, resulting in carpets that can be exported to world markets.

Godwin Austen Johnson Architects (GAJ) has completed the interior design for the Sundus Rotana in Muscat, Oman – inspired by the country’s surrounding landscape, textiles and traditions.

Primarily aimed at business travelers, the hotel offers a total of 215 rooms, with focus on the flow between spaces – from the layout of the guest rooms to the orientation of the lobby – to ensure comfort and functionality.

The colour palette and material finishes reflect the Omani landscape through the use of timber slat walls and natural tones and a muted neutral background.

Guests are guided from the reception area to the all-day dining space, Ginger, by over-sized images of the Omani landscaping adorning the walls. Ginger has been designed to maximise natural daylight through the use of windows that take up full ceiling height.

Another dining destination within the hotel, Teatro, features a more theatrical ambiance in contrast to the more muted reception and guest rooms, complete with dark wooden tables, subdued lighting and touches of red.

2017 marked the opening of a number of highly-anticipated cultural buildings in the Middle East, from the Jean Nouvel-designed Louvre Abu Dhabi to a restored music centre in Bahrain.

designMENA rounds up the top seven buildings that have contributed a strong cultural value to their cities.

Louvre Abu Dhabi by Ateliers Jean Nouvel in Abu Dhabi, UAE

2017 saw the opening of the long-delayed Louvre Abu Dhabi museum, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. The project was first announced in 2007, and had since seen a number of delays until officially opening its doors in November this year.

The museum complex, which is located in Abu Dhabi’s cultural district on Saadiyat Island, is made up of 55 white volumes that are distributed amid what appears to be a ‘mini-city’ (or medina). The museum city is surrounded by water and almost entirely covered by a geometric dome that spans 180 metres- and is made up of 8,000 overlapping metal stars. Read about designMENA’s visit to the Louvre Abu Dhabi here. 

designMENA spoke to Nouvel during the press conference, where he focused on the importance of context  in informing the architectural language of the museum. The architect also spoke about how the geometric dome had inspired by interiors of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which Nouvel also designed, as well as being involved in the overall art curation.

Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre by SSH in Kuwait City, Kuwait 

The SSH-designed Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre in Kuwait City opened at the beginning of 2017, with the design and construction of the $775 million project completed in only 22 months.

Made up of four angular buildings with perforated arabesque patterns, it sits s the centrpiece of the new cultural district in central Kuwait, close to the historic Flag Square.

The Centre hosts various cultural events including music, theatre, film, workshops and spoken word.

Not long since its opening, the cultural centre caught fire, although he titanium cladding allowed for minimal damage to the complex.

Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech (mYSLm) by Studio KO in Marrakesh, Morocco 

French architecture firm Studio KO’s Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech opened its door in Marrakesh in late October of this year, complete with a brickwork facade and interiors inspired by the lining of a jacket.

Dedicated to the work of the legendary French fashion designer, the new museum houses an important selection from the Fondation Pierre Bergé: Yves Saint Laurent’s impressive collection, which comprises 5,000 items of clothing, 15,000 haute couture accessories as well as tens of thousands of sketches and assorted objects.

Situated on Rue Yves Saint Laurent, adjacent to the famous Jardin Majorelle, the new building spans over 4,000m2, including a 400 m2 permanent exhibition space, as well as a 150m2 temporary exhibition space, a 130-seat auditorium, a bookshop, a café-restaurant with a terrace and a research library housing 5,000 books. Read more about the project on designMENA. 

Etihad Museum by Moriyana & Teshima Architects in Dubai, UAE 

January 2017 saw the opening of Etihad Museum designed by Canadian firm Moriyana & Teshima Architects.

Located adjacent to the historic Union House on the Dubai waterfront, the museum honours the 1971 signing of the document that created the UAE and celebrates the culture and history of its people.

Much of the museum is housed underground, including permanent and temporary galleries, theatres, event spaces and archival facilities.

The structure with its undulating curves represents the parchment upon which the unification was written, and its tapering golden columns symbolise the pens with which the document was signed. The entrance pavilion rests lightly upon a reflecting pool and plaza. Read more about the design of the museum on designMENA. 

Palestine Museum by Heneghan Peng in Birzeit (West Bank), Palestine

First proposed in 2011, this year saw the completion of the Palestine Museum by Ireland-based architects Heneghan Peng located in the city of Birzeit in the West Bank, near Ramallah.

The museum, which is dedicated to Palestinian culture, is set on a hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, highlighting its context by referencing the traditional terraced landscapes that can be seen in the West Bank- directly visible in the design of the building.

The masterplan uses a series of stone-walled terraces that trail the sloping topography of the site, creating a homogenous structure that emerges from the hilltop, perfectly blended with its surroundings.

The monolithic structure features limestone slabs that cover all of the building’s façade as well as its roofs. Read more about the building on designMENA. 

The building also won an award under the Cultural category at the 2017 World Architecture Festival, alongside other buildings in the Middle East.

Concrete by OMA in Dubai, UAE 

Dutch firm OMA’s first project in Dubai, the Alserkal Avenue-based multi-functional events and cultural space, Concrete, opened to the public in March this year, spearheaded by the architecture studio’s Dubai office.

Concrete addresses the district’s growing need for a centrally located public space capable of hosting a diverse programme, combining four former warehouses to create a 1,250m2 events hub with the ability to accommodate public events, exhibitions, performances and lectures, all at the same time. Read designMENA’s interview with lead architect, Kaveh Dabiri, about the design of Concrete. 

The building combines two distinct facades: one made from translucent poly-carbonate sheets that allows for the indoor and outdoor elements of the building to interact; while the street-facing side is clad in a rough concrete finish complete with mirror pieces that reflect and refract the light.

Restoration of Muharraq district in Muharraq Island. Bahrain

Belgian Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen has designed a pair of cultural centres for Bahrain, featuring mesh curtains that can be lifted to offer views of the performances taking place inside.

The project includes the renovation of two houses, known as ‘Dar’s’ on the harbour city of Muharraq. One of the projects, Dar al Jinaa, has been completed inaugurated, while the second, Dar al Riffa, is currently under construction (see more images of the project here).

The project comes as part of a larger urban renewal initiative led by Bahrain’s Ministry of Culture.

Once used by the local pearl divers to perform private music performances, the two buildings will serve as music centres, providing the public with access to the musical and cultural traditions of the historic community. Read designMENA’s interview with the architects about the design of the buildings here. 

2017 saw the completion of a large number of high profile projects by major architecture firms such as Foster + Partners, Herzog & de Meuron, and OMA.

designMENA rounds up the top six projects by international architecture firms that made their mark on the region this year, some of which are included in our round up of the top cultural projects that opened in the Middle East this year. 

The King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia by Zaha Hadid Architects

The King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects opened its door to the public in October of this year, appearing as a series of ‘crystalline forms’ emerging from the desert landscape.

As the architects’ first LEED-certified building, KAPSARC is designed in response to the environment of the Riyadh Plateau to minimise energy consumption – in line with the research centre’s aim to use energy more efficiently.

The modular structure, which features hexagonal prismatic honeycomb shapes, creates a composition of crystalline forms that seemingly emerge from the desert landscape. Read more about the design here. 

3Beirut by Foster + Partners in Beirut, Lebanon 

Foster + Partners has completed its first project in Lebanon in 2017, a mixed-use development made up of three towers with residential and retail offerings as well as public spaces.

Located in the Beirut Central District, just outside of the Solidere boundaries – a new regeneration masterplan for the city centre – the development responds to the site and culture of the city.

3Beirut broke ground in 2011, and aims to strengthen Beirut’s role as a centre for tourism, commerce, retail and entertainment. Read more about the design of the residential complex here. 

Bulgari Resort by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel in Dubai, UAE

The long anticipated Bulagri Resort by italian architecture firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel opened to the public this year, resembling a traditional seaside village in southern Italy.

The 1.4m square foot property is located on the seahorse-shaped Jumeirah Bay island, connected by a 300m bridge to the city’s centre.

In addition to the resort, the development also includes six residential buildings of 173 sea-facing apartments, 15 private mansions, a beach club, and the brand’s first Marina and Yacht Club.

A coral texture characterises the two main buildings of the hotel. Created on the overlay of horizontal lines, the building facade is defined by coral-like brise soleils (sunscreens) or matte white lacquered steel parapets. Read more about the design of the hotel on designMENA. 

Related story: Not having a hotel background has shaped Bulgari resort’s design language

Beirut Terraces by Herzog & de Meuron in Beirut, Lebanon 

Herzog & de Meuron’s Beirut Terraces tower was completed this year, defined by staggered floor plates and large planted terraces.

Beirut Terraces is a 119m high-rise designed as part of a masterplan around the neighbouring area in hopes of rehabilitating it. The tower sits within the plan’s portion dedicated to office and residential high-rise buildings.

The residential tower’s design fuses the natural environment with built elements, and aims to cultivate the city’s urban culture. Indoor and outdoor spaces merge into each other, allowing the generous terraces to become living spaces.

A green boulevard, too, connects the tower to its surroundings, which is taken up by the design and continued vertically into the building. Read more about the tower on designMENA. 

Related story: Herzog & de Meuron’s Beirut Terraces tower captured by Trevor Patt prior to completion

Dubai Mall Apple Store by Foster + Partners in Dubai, UAE 

2017 also saw the opening of Foster + Partners’ has newest Apple Store, located in The Dubai Mall with s a 186 foot curved balcony, featuring one of the largest kinetic installations.

37.5 foot-high panels open up to the store from the balcony side, featuring a line of motorised ‘solar wings’ that were also designed by the UK-based architecture firm.

The mashrabiya-inspired ‘wings’ are programmed to adapt to the outdoor temperature, closing during the day when temperature’s are high and opening during the night when the weather in the city is cooler. Read more about the design of the Dubai Mall Apple store on designMENA. 

Muraba Residences by RCR Arquitectes in Dubai, UAE

Pritzker Prize winners RCR Arquitectes had unveiled its first residential project in Dubai this year, located in Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah.

The Muraba Residences feature airy apartments with balconies and floor-to-ceiling glazing, framing views over the sea and the city’s impressive skyline.

Uninterrupted panoramic views informed the architecture of the project, where landmarks such as Burj Al Arab, Burj Khalifa and the Downtown Dubai area are visible, alongside the expansive stretch of sea and sky. Read more about the project on designMENA. 

Design and engineering firm Atkins has announced the appointment of Lee Morris as its head in architecture for the Middle East and Africa region today.

Morris’ role involves managing a team of architects and designers as well as urbanists to spearhead the firm’s projects in the region, with a focus on its increasing activity in the Saudi Arabia market.

The firm has masterplanned the KAAR (King Abdul Aziz Road) development in KSA over the last eight years and is now designing one of the key gateway buildings and two hotels for the project.

Prior to joining Atkins, Morris’ previous roles have included four years respectively as a senior development director at H&H Investment and Development LLC, design director at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company Projects as well as other senior positions at Atkins.

Simon Moon, Atkins’ CEO for the Middle East and Africa, commenting on Morris’ appointment, said: “During this time of change in the region, fresh and innovative approaches to design are essential. I’m very happy to welcome Lee back to Atkins where I believe he will bring great vision and leadership to our architecture team in the region.”

Morris commented on the appointment, saying: “I am delighted to be back at Atkins, especially at a time where the firm is experiencing a demand for innovation in design across projects. The company has a rich heritage in the region, bringing all its international experience to turn clients’ visions into reality.”

Morris first joined Atkins in the UK and Europe in June 2002, as head of design to oversee all aspects of design output, leading the multidisciplinary team of architects and engineers on a broad range of projects from concept designs through to onsite construction.

He then transferred to Atkins in the Middle East and Africa in 2004 as a senior design architect where he was one of the key contributors to the company’s growth, while also accelerating his career and becoming a design director in December 2007.

During this time, Morris led the architectural and engineering department of 60 team members at the Atkins offices in Dubai and spent over four years leading several projects across Middle East and Africa, including The Executive Towers, Trump International Hotel and Tower and QE2 Twin Towers.

Morris has more than 23 years of extensive experience as an architect, with accreditation from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Architects Registration Board (ARB). He has worked on small to large scale masterplans, residential, education, hotels, Ministry of Defence and cultural projects and has lived and worked in the UK, Hong Kong, China, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

Atkins was acquired by SNC-Lavalin last year in July 2017.