Beside Jumeirah Emirates Towers and the Museum of the Future in Dubai, the proposed Dubai Holding headquarters will be a circular building organised around an open-air atrium and landscaped courtyard.
Architecture and engineering practice Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has arranged workplaces and shared spaces around this central garden. Renderings show a broad cylindrical volume with closely spaced vertical elements across its façade, rising above a landscaped base.
SOM is leading the architecture, structural engineering and interiors for the project. Dubai Holding, a diversified investment group, expects the headquarters to open in 2029.
A cutaway rendering shows office floors facing planted terraces around the central opening, with a sheltered arrival area beneath part of the building. SOM says the floor plates step around the garden terraces, some of which are cut into the building and open onto workspaces. Individual work areas have been designed for flexibility.
The building’s circular form and structural design allow open spaces throughout the workplace. They also let the surrounding landscape and arrival areas pass around and beneath the building.
SOM is working with James Carpenter on the façade, designed to balance shade, daylight and views across the city. The practice says the building’s form and landscape have also been developed in response to Dubai’s climate and occupant comfort.
Field Operations, an urban design and landscape architecture practice, is collaborating on gardens, sculpted landforms and walkways connecting the headquarters to the surrounding district. The landscape continues through elevated garden terraces and other outdoor spaces within the building.
Dubai Holding signed an AED5bn ($1.36bn) construction contract with China State Construction Engineering Corporation Middle East on 9 September. The contract covers both the headquarters and the neighbouring Jumeirah Residences Emirates Towers.
Images: © SOM | ATCHAIN
