Dubai's Marina and Beach Towers by ZAS

[wyliepoon]

Arch Record

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Even Small Firms Get a Slice of the Dubai Pie
July 15, 2008

By Albert Warson


Many of the world’s A-list architects have descended upon Dubai, as its desert sands are parted for ever more extravagant developments. But lesser known firms are showing up there as well.

ZAS Architects Inc., a 50-person firm in Toronto, recently won a commission from Nakheel, one of the emirate’s largest developers, to design a $1.25 billion waterfront complex that will encompass 7.2 million square feet. The project, dubbed Marina and Beach Towers, is part of a larger development called Dubai Promenade, which is being constructed on a 55-acre artificial peninsula that was created by dredging up the floor of the Persian Gulf. Nearby are the three manmade islands collectively known as the Palm Triology, another Nakheel project.

Like many developments in the rapidly growing emirate, Dubai Promenade is grand in scale. ZAS’s portion includes five 45- to 60-story condominium towers, all of which sit atop a 2 million-square-foot, multi-level podium. This enormous base will contain high-end shops and restaurants, along with parking for 6,000 cars, explains Paul Stevens, a ZAS senior principal. The Dubai Promenade scheme also calls for six additional buildings, including an office tower and a silver, donut-shaped hotel designed by the international firm, Atkins.

A signature feature of the ZAS towers are exterior walls that lean outward. A concrete core and concrete outrigger beams help create lateral stability, allowing for floor plates that are free of columns or shear walls, says Marek Zawadzski, a ZAS senior design partner who commutes between Toronto and Dubai. “If a purchaser wants to create one apartment that spans an entire floor,†he says, “there are no structural walls or interior columns that stand in their way, which is a great selling feature.â€

This is one of several ZAS projects now underway in Dubai. The Canadian firm opened its Dubai office in 2005 and is working on commissions totaling 10 million square feet.

 

[allabootmatt]

It's funny...a lot of second-rung Toronto firms are finding absolute bonanzas in the likes of China and Dubai...while so much of the work back home goes to KPMB and AA. Check out the Bregmann and Haman website for another example.

It's also worth looking at their portfolio entry on the TD Centre, which blithely notes that it was a joint venture or some such, but doesn't mention with whom.

 

[khris]

I actually 'designed' a building like the leaning one on the right in Google Sketchup sometime last year.

 

[Dichotomy]

Dubai really is becoming a skyscraper fan's version of an orgasm. I'd love to go there some day soon.

 

[adma]

Everything's relative. This is my version of a skyscraper fan's orgasm

 

[Archivist]

dichotomy, I've been to Dubai, and while it is not without interest in a kind of gruesome way, in terms of urbanity (and not just height) Toronto is so far ahead of Dubai that it will never, can never, catch up. I feel bad for them, because ultimately it doesn't matter how many different "cities" (Dubai Marina City, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, ad nauseum) you build, a state that is built not on citizenship but on money-grubbing has no long-term future. Their presumptions are off.

Of course, while the oil flows, there is money to be had. That should hold them for a while.

 

[ganjavih]

To me, Dubai is the cheesiest locale on the planet and a symbol of ridiculous human excess. Check out this development... every house has a beachfront!

 

[Dichotomy]

dichotomy, I've been to Dubai, and while it is not without interest in a kind of gruesome way, in terms of urbanity (and not just height) Toronto is so far ahead of Dubai that it will never, can never, catch up. I feel bad for them, because ultimately it doesn't matter how many different "cities" (Dubai Marina City, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, ad nauseum) you build, a state that is built not on citizenship but on money-grubbing has no long-term future. Their presumptions are off.

Of course, while the oil flows, there is money to be had. That should hold them for a while.

Still, in a tacky sort Vegas-style, I'll bet it would be fun to see the city. Surreal, no?

 

[Archivist]

Yes, surreal. That's accurate enough. Nice malls though.

 

[Hydrogen]

To me, Dubai is the cheesiest locale on the planet and a symbol of ridiculous human excess. Check out this development... every house has a beachfront!

Looks like they just rolled off the production line and are ready for shipping.

Otherwise, very lifeless.

 

[Archivist]

And gated. Just like the Burj Dubai, all gated communities.

 

[urbanboom]

It seems to me that Dubai is a conservative Muslim version of Las Vegas:
just as tacky, but not as much fun.

Oh, everyone I know who went to Dubai hated it. There's a beach and a mall. That's just about it.

 

[wyliepoon]

I think that with all the supertall, "exclusive" developments in Dubai, it's easy to forget that Dubai actually has some urbanity in the Souks of the old city.

If Dubai's rulers are smart enough, they would probably leave these traditional districts alone, instead of razing them in the name of slum-clearance like in China.

There will soon be megacities in the Middle East that will lack even this kind of old urban charm, for example, the King Abdullah Economic City currently under construction in Saudi Arabia.

 

[shumoon]

Of course, while the oil flows, there is money to be had. That should hold them for a while.

There seems to be a misconception in every Dubai thread in this forum: that Dubai's success depends on the oil supply. The emirate's success actually depends on everything but oil to fill its coffers and fund its wide-ranging domestic and international ambitions. Unlike its supremely wealthy neighbour Abu Dhabi, which is practically drowning in petroleum, Dubai never had much oil to begin with. Its production peaked in 1991, with 420,000 barrels per day, >0.5% of what Saudi Arabia now produces, which amounts to only 5% of Dubai's GDP. The rest is provided by a remarkably forward looking economic engine based on trade, tourism, hi-tech and real estate.

While many dream of a post-petroleum-based economy, Dubai has largely arrived there. Dubai is building a subway system that will rival any in the developing world, and many in the West.

 

[kEiThZ]

I second Shumoon's comment. I grew up in Dubai and my dad was a construction engineer who arrived there shortly after their independence from the British. My dad even worked on the Sheikh's palace and attended Sheikh Rashid's funeral (he was the founder of modern Dubai). Dubai has moved well past oil. This has a lot to do with the vision and foresight of very moderate royal family that is intent on keeping commerce flowing and the Islamists out.

My dad regulars reminisces about government efficiency in Dubai. He would submit drawings for approval and get them back within hours or days not weeks or months. And they impose very high standards for architecture. If your building is ugly, it simply won't get approved. Now, of course, we can quibble here about artistic expression and whether this leads to tackiness, but there is no denying that there is some merit to at least demanding excellence from a city's architects and urban planners.

It certainly has its challenges. Their treatment of migrant labourers is nothing to brag about. But many of them are still much better off than the third world country they came from. And middle class professionals are treated extremely well. It constantly has to worry about security in a very, very insecure region. But I will put my money on them surviving past the oil boom unlike many of the other emirates in the UAE or the neighbouring gulf states who have squandered their oil wealth on palaces, mosques, statues and the occassional jihadist charity.