World’s Top Real Estate Talent Converge on Dubai’s Time Square

Written by John Larsen

Dubai-based developer, Nakheel, has enlisted the aid of design firms from around the world, utilizing their expertise, creativity, business acumen and design skills to create the next wave of retail in Dubai, merging the latest international development trends with a sensibility that is distinctly Emirati.

 

“It’s definitely an exciting time, as we’re able to plan the infrastructure today for Dubai’s tomorrow,” said David Thurling, Nakheel Retail Managing Director.

In April, Nakheel Retail announced plans to build 13 million square feet of new retail space across five separate mega-projects: Palm Mall Jumeirah, a premier retail destination on the first Palm development; Palm Mall Deira, a retailing precinct planned for the first phase of Palm Deira; Phase II 2 of Ibn Battuta Mall, which will double the mall’s size with new themed courts and an expanded retail mix; India Mart, which will combine the best of Indian wholesale and retail shopping with entertainment facilities; and Great Mall Dubai, a ‘three-in-one’ mall concept combining traditional retail, an entertainment zone and a home furnishings project at International City.

 

Equally significant as the size and cost of these developments is what they represent for Dubai – a radical rethinking of how shopping centres will function within larger developments. No longer will retail be a single entity that exists independently, but now, it will be an organic part of its surrounding buildings. Nakheel’s newest malls will be physically and architecturally integrated into mixed-use projects and, where possible, into mass transit, creating true neighbourhoods where people of varied backgrounds and economic levels will live, work and play.

 

“As one of the fastest growing cities in the world, there is great opportunity in Dubai to master plan developments that significantly impact the lives of our customers.”   Thurling said. “Shopping, going to the gym, or having a nice meal all within walking distance a convenient commute is becoming more relative to residents here.”

 

The alliance of residential and retail emulates the evolution of cities from Alexandria to ancient Mesopotamia onward, as trade stops became world communities from Venice to London to New York. Today’s developments compress the growth of decades and centuries to a few years. “We are trying to do in ten years what normally takes a hundred years,” said Mark Bethel, Director of Development.  The key to all is to create mixed-use projects whose uses work with each other, and accommodates the basic human need for socialization.

 

Despite the massive growth of Dubai since 1990, say leading designers and Nakheel executives, the Emirate has lacked the great gathering spaces -- Venice’s St. Mark’s Square, London’s Piccadilly Circus, New York City’s Rockefeller Center -- found in other major cities.

Our goal is to create these community spaces, which then will share parking with other conveniences and amenities. Rather than just visiting the mall for shopping, visitors will make these projects part of their everyday lives. It also has to make sense, have style, and a personality,” says Bethel.

 

Creating this vision has entailed teambuilding to an unprecedented degree, bringing together international expertise from North America, Australasia and within the Emirate itself. To help design these projects, NRSM has enlisted U.S.-headquartered Cubellis and its Dubai-based office, Cubellis Costa International (CCI), which offer planning and design services for projects throughout the world, and Buchan Group, an association of architectural practices best known for its work in Australasia.

 

“We have hired architects with remarkable vision and creativity to design unparalleled platforms for these uniquely themed and different sized projects. We want people to desire to shop in these landmark developments because it’s recognized as a Nakheel project; an established provider of a better quality of life” Bethel said.

 

“Having firms with international expertise is valuable no matter where you are in the world. The collective experience is allowing us to build better projects,” Thurling said. “It’s reflective of all the lessons learned. ”

 

“We get all the really big thinkers in a room” Bethel said. “They inspire each other, and the team can jump higher than they ever could individually. We consistently select the best consultants to help us achieve our bold and high level vision”.

 

Understanding what has made mixed-use projects and communities work, comes from years of global experience, as well as a variety of in-house skills in residential, hospitality, corporate workplace solutions and retail. Designing a community is more than just stacking uses – they must be unified in their design (whether through architectural elements or theme), yet with elements that are easily distinguishable to avoid confusing the users and for safety. Successful mixed-use design also must take into account such basic structural elements as common ventilation (to prevent odours from nearby restaurants from disturbing residents), sound design (again, to prevent disrupting residents’ lives during the evening), and parking security to separate resident, daytime office worker, and visitor parking.

 

All of these elements are critical to the success of any mixed-use project, but any can be easily overlooked during the many stages of design, particularly if a team is less experienced in the format. In addition, these projects must in a sense guide their users through to increase comfort, creating an even more exceptional need for wayfinding graphics – for parking, directions and simply to establish a sense of place that feels comfortable to the users. A shopper who feels lost or foreign in a vast complex simply will not return.  “However at the end of the day, we have to humanize these spaces with texture and scale or it just becomes another massive development project,” says Bethel.

 

Master-planning is the key to success, and Cubellis has the expertise to serve by providing the capacity to both plan an overall project, and then continue through subsequent development stages, from schematics to design development to construction. The knowledge of the Emirate, its people and its culture that can only come with on-site staff that are watching Dubai’s growth and evolution on a daily basis. For example, Dubai natives and long-time locals tend to prefer single-level malls, a rarity in North America.  “As an example, dark spaces work over here, tight spaces work here, scale is definitely an issue,” adds Bethel.

 

“The knowledge and experience of working on large-scale projects around the world give us the ability to understand what makes a great mixed-use project, lifestyle centre or mall,” said John H. Larsen, Cubellis’ managing principal, retail and mixed-use. “We have that cultural sensitivity.”

 

The result is a group of projects that both push the creative edges of mixed-use planning and design, while reflecting the traditional ethos of their target markets, even as they serve different markets and audiences.

 

The projects themselves range in scope yet all share one major goal: to create spaces that become the town centres so common in the old urban areas of Europe, North America and elsewhere in Asia, that appeal both to their residents and tourists.

 

“In Dubai, the only public spaces are the shopping malls,” Jacoby said. “We actually are creating the core of a city.”

 

Fittingly, those cores are as different as the communities themselves.  The Ibn Battuta Mall, which opened in 2005, will double in size with the addition of 1.3 million square feet in Phase II. Its architectural theme of recreating the adventures of 14th century explorer Ibn Battuta will continue with Turkey, Yemen, Hejaz, and Morocco added to the environments shoppers can visit (currently China, India, Egypt, Tunisia, Persia and Andalusia). The project thus will remain the largest themed shopping centre in the world.

 

In the third phase, a 500,000-square-foot domed entertainment area will include large childrens’ entertainment area as well as nightclubs, live performance theatres, and additional dining areas around a central lagoon and rainforests recalling Sumatra. A rollercoaster will cross the domed area.

 

Ibn Battuta Mall will become the core of a new community. Six towers with 3.8 million square feet of office space will connect to the mall, as will hotels and apartments, allowing easy passage between the various components, including the only IMAX theatre in the country. An MGM 2,700-key hotel and 1,500 residential units also will join the mix. Structured parking will accommodate 18,000 cars.

 

Perhaps most important, the entire Ibn Battuta Mall complex will connect to Dubai’s new metro, creating a transit-oriented mixed-use development similar to Bethesda Row in suburban Washington, D.C., and developments surrounding train stations in Europe and Asia. The access to public transit will ease commuting for Ibn Battuta Mall’s residents, and also link the project to all of Dubai. A major challenge for suburban master-planned communities in the United States has been avoiding isolation from the overall city.

 

International City will soon have the Great Mall Dubai, which most accurately can be considered three malls in one.  A residential core will be surrounded by three retail-oriented projects -- the Great Mall Dubai, Dragon Mart and India Mart -- allowing residents to travel conveniently to each component as needed.  In addition, the Great Mall will incorporate additional uses such as office and hotel spaces connected to their respective retail environments. Like Ibn Battuta, Cubellis’ Larsen and his team began the preliminary work while with another firm, continuing on when they joined Cubellis this year.

 

“They have put together one of the largest and integrated mixed-use retail facilities in the world,” Jacoby said.  “That’s how you drive the vision of a city. A lot of people talk about mixed-use, but it’s just a lot of uses on separate plots. These are buildings that are interconnected – one of the largest attempts of this type to date. And the vision is being driven by retail.”

 

The 4 million-square-foot complex will include a traditional hypermarket-anchored centre, joined to an enclosed U.S.-style power centre (dominated by big box retailers and home furnishings tenants) by an entertainment zone.

 

“The issue that is always interesting is how to achieve a balance of public space with selling space,” says Jacoby of CCI. “How do you become the public space for a very diverse community? This will become their huge public space.”

 

Another question, given Dubai’s climate, is how to include as much natural light as possible while meeting energy requirements. A design firm experienced in mixed-use balances such practical considerations with an appealing overall look.

 

The design of Great Mall Dubai is still being finalized, with CCI leaning toward a “contemporary Islamic” style. The first phase, totalling1.5 million square feet, will break ground in the spring, with the entire project is expected to open in 2011.

 

The Dragon Mart is the largest Chinese wholesale trade centre outside of China.  Located in International City, the three-quarters-mile-long, dragon-shaped facility is a permanent commercial venue, offering eight zones that sell China-made goods ranging from food to textiles to electronics, as well as restaurants and food outlets.  Opened in 2004, Dragon Mart also provides a range of services for both the traders and International City residents such as banks, ATM machines, a business centre, an immigration centre for Chinese workers and tradesmen, and a post office.

 

Dragon Mart was initially designed as a wholesale marketplace, that is reflected by the scale of the facility and the almost warehouse feel.  Due to the overwhelming spin-off success by consumer traffic, the mart will undergo a significant renovation and expansion.  “The plan now is to enhance the centre at night by creating shopping that’s more retail-oriented. People put goods out on the street, lanterns are placed outside to create a festival atmosphere that will only grow with the renovation and expansion,” explained Jacoby the lead designer on the project.

 

“The biggest challenge is making organizational sense of the project, because of its very unusual retail plan and the 4,000 individual tenants,” Larsen said.

 

The difference between day and night will become even more evident as the interior central spine will become the “day market” and the alleys and back streets become the “night market,” offering dramatic signage, amenities and lighting elements. Two food courts, one traditional, one created as a stall market, will be added, as will a hypermarket.

 

Because of the rapid growth of the Chinese population in Dubai, approximately 4,000 apartments for the vendors, workers and their families will be built adjacent to the retail. Plans also call for schools and religious facilities such as temples, churches and mosques. The project is under construction now.

 

Similar to Dragon Mart, and also located in International City, the 2.6 million-square-foot India Mart will serve as a focus for the Indian community in Dubai, as well as a tourist attraction. The project is still in the design stage, but plans call for office space, a hotel, and a showroom for Indian-made products that will be open both to trade and consumers.  Entertainment facilities will host cultural festivals, Bollywood films, and sports. In addition, says master-planner CCI, a cricket field will provide both athletic opportunities and socialization for a growing South Asian population and visitors.

 

The layout design, by Buchan Group, emulates the drape and twisting of a woman’s sari, with five nodes reflecting the subcontinent’s five main regions.

 

“The essence of the project is about the colour and splendour of India,” said Grant Withers, a director of Buchan Group, the mall’s designer. “The edges of her outfit would be the gold and treatments in the centre.”

 

Completion is proposed for 2011.

 

Other mega projects are located on the Gulf, creating dramatic waterfront neighbourhoods, with retail to service both residents and tourists. Palm Mall Jumeirah, with 1.1 million square feet on four levels and a 42-level Twin Residential Towers will become the heart of Nakheel’s signature project, Palm Jumeirah, built on manmade islands reclaimed from the Arabian Gulf. Situated at the top of the “trunk” of the palm tree, the retail centre will offer 180 world-class luxury retailers including anchor Barney’s New York, dining and entertainment, including an eight-screen cinema and custom-built Cirque du Soleil theatre as an anchor.

 

“The catchment area is highly affluent quite wealthy, so the finishes had to be extravagant,” Withers said. “There’s nothing quite like it in Dubai.” “The demographic within the catchment area is quite affluent quite wealthy, so the design of the built form, the materials and finishes selected for the project and the retail mix all represent a tailored response to that particular market,” Withers said.

 

The location will make the centre more accessible to the residents in the single luxury homes on the fronds, as well as to the residential towers in the trunk. Residents of the main tower connected to the mall need only take an elevator to visit the centre. In addition, a monorail will connect the development’s various components, in a nod to urban planning principles that are taking hold throughout the Emirate. It also will help with a challenge particular to Dubai – the water table forces developers to place their projects on podiums, literally raising what would be ground level development on the first or second floor (with parking, typically, beneath), Withers observed.

 

“They’re starting to realize that people need to talk about the pedestrian aspects of development,” Withers said. “The focus is starting to shift toward good, solid urban planning.” “Developers and designers are starting to implement strategies that address the pedestrian realm within developments, an approach that isn’t widely demonstrated in Dubai,” Withers said. “The focus is starting to shift toward locally relevant and well considered urban design and planning to create great environments.”

 

A yacht basin that can berth some of the largest private vessels in the world is part of the residential complex, adding to the luxury draw of the complex. Other island attractions will include Trump International Hotel & Tower and Atlantis to Golden Mile and the famous ocean liner, QE2. The centre is projected to open in October 2010.

 

In contrast, Palm Mall Deira will actually be four malls in one, a 4 million-square-foot colossus that will include 1,700 shops and 170 restaurants when it is complete by 2012.

 

Master-planning, again, is the key. Based on the idea of creating an authentic urban town centre around a series of internal streets and lanes the two-level centre will be created as four integrated quadrants. The first quadrant will be convenience oriented, featuring a hypermarket and other retailers to serve shoppers’ day-to-day needs. Leisure and entertainment tenants, including cinemas, nightclubs and bars also will be located in this quadrant. The second quadrant will be geared toward the family, with a department store anchor and internationally recognised branded family apparel. A high-end mall, anchored by an exclusive department store similar to Palm Mall Jumeirah will serve as the third quadrant, catering for the more affluent and aspiring consumers within the catchment of this more traditional precinct of Dubai and even drawing shoppers from nearby Sharjah. The last quadrant will be geared to the youth and to the mid-market, and is again anchored by a third department store.

 

The quadrants will integrate with a traditional souk, a “Paradise Garden,” a 200-metre long, 60 metre wide traditional Islamic-style garden with beautiful water features and intimate landscaped courtyard spaces that will be unique to Dubai. Running through the complex will be a “High Street” precinct consisting of a series of multilevel concept stores showcasing some of the world’s greatest and most recognisable brands. The “Great Square”, an epic scaled public open space (covered by an amazing iconic “palm frond” roof) twice the size of St. Mark’s Square also will become a major communal gathering place.

 

“Part of our brief was to create a fantastic meeting place for visitors and locals alike,” Withers said. “The idea is to provide a significant gathering place, not just for the patrons shopping at the centre but also for the local and wider Dubai community and to give the project a greater sense of community ownership and real “Town Centre” soul. It becomes a significant gesture to the public that the experience of the development isn’t necessarily all about shopping.”

 

“It is much more integrated thinking than simply creating value for the shopping centre business. Through the verticalization of the land plots, you increase even the highest land value”, Nakheel’s Bethel observes. “You create value and wealth even beyond the monetary adding various strategic mixed uses to the density”.

 

Densification also will help with a problem that could grow in proportion with the population explosion. Public transit also will help to connect these new neighbourhoods to each other: in addition to buses and light rail, the Dubai metro line will allow easy transit to most areas of the Emirate when it is completed by 2012. The first line opens in September 2009.

 

“Dubai is positioning itself for the future,” Thurling said. “Transportation, logistics – all of these are being created today for the future. We’re laying the groundwork.”

 

For cities such as New York, Paris, London and Tokyo, such integration of residential, commercial uses and transit took decades. Dubai’s leaders are speeding up the schedule by a fair bit, particularly as the population skyrockets.

 

“The iconic vision of Sheikh Mohamed [Bin Rashid Al Maktoum] is to create a country beyond it’s time, and he is shaping that modern world now” Bethel said. “We believe that the projects we are planning today will be fascinating and compelling attractions for all.  They will be destinations where relaxation combines with exhilaration, comfort blends into thrills and work and life are in perfect balance.  We want our shopping malls to inspire an even more wonderful, rich and vibrant cultural experience for generations to come”.

 

Over the next 10 to 15 years, Nakheel will build master-planned communities that will accommodate some 2.5 million to 3 million people, Thurling notes. That could result in the construction of 50 to 70 shopping centers over the long term (creating 10 square feet of retail space per capita, well below the U.S. average of more than 20 square feet per person). It also will result in the creation of many smaller town center projects of about 250,000 square feet within the large residential projects.  But all must complement each other to create the best possible experience.

“It will be interesting to see what Dubai is like in 10 years, to see what has been designed into the infrastructure and how these projects came together and integrate with each other,” Thurling said.

 

“When you get an exceptionally bright group of people together from various corners of the world, it’s inspirational,” Bethel said. “You get the best work from people collaborating together.”

Mark Bethel is a member of the GTBP.org.  You can find out more about him on his website http://markbethel.com

Written by John Larsen