A performance stage positioned on the lagoon will face an amphitheatre and stepped terraces at Azizi Venice Boulevard, a planned 35,000m2 retail and leisure centre in Dubai.
International architecture and design practice Benoy has released its design for the three-storey centre, part of the wider Azizi Venice development in Dubai South. It will contain shops, restaurants, wellness facilities and entertainment venues, with a boutique hotel and opera house alongside it.
Benoy developed the scheme from the competition-winning Jewel of Venice entry. Venice’s canals and reflections on the water informed the façade, interiors, landscape and circulation routes.
Performance stage extends onto the lagoon
The boulevard has been pulled back from the waterfront to open space for performances. A stage will stand on the lagoon, facing amphitheatre seating and terraces that rise from the water.
Restaurants, bars and outdoor areas will overlook the stage. Second-floor terraces will provide further views of the performances and lagoon.
A layered metallic façade will wrap the building. Rippled panels and hexagonal tiles are designed to reproduce the appearance of water and reflect changes in light. Openings in the façade will lead to roof gardens, while sections along the boulevard will rise above the ground-floor shopfronts.
The top of the building has been cut away to admit daylight to the wellness floor.
Central atrium links retail and event spaces
Retail will occupy the ground and first floors, behind glazed shopfronts with scalloped profiles. Self-supporting steel-and-glass atriums will bring daylight into the interior and maintain open views between the levels.
The main atrium will contain forms resembling lily pads, cascading water features and fine metal strands producing a rainfall effect. The strands will carry water towards a circular opening overlooking gardens at basement level.
A steel-and-glass pavilion spanning two levels will accommodate flexible event space above, with a members-only champagne bar, restaurants and bars also planned within the structure.
Spas, gyms, treatment rooms and a cinema are planned for the second floor. Dining areas and pavilions on the same level will open onto terraces overlooking the performance space.
Basement provides another entrance
The main vehicular route enters at basement level, where curved soffits will lead visitors towards a circular water garden connected to the ground floor above.
The basement will also contain a hypermarket of approximately 5,000m2 and several smaller retail units. Two parking levels are planned beneath it.
Outside, meandering paths will connect the building with the promenade and surrounding development. Smaller pavilions modelled on the main building will provide shade and space for seating, outdoor dining and temporary retail.
Boulevard joins larger Azizi Venice development
Dubai-based property developer Azizi Developments said in April 2026 that the wider Azizi Venice community would contain more than 36,000 residential units across over 100 apartment complexes, as well as more than 109 mansions.
The development also includes the planned 2,500-seat Azizi Opera, located on the boulevard.
