Hospitality Design - May 2015 - 166

perspectives

places dubai

6
of the city's mixed-use development Cultural
Village, a spectacular landscaped garden setting
overlooking Dubai Creek. Under the direction
of Donatella Versace and Dubai-based interior
contractors Depa, a bevy of artisans are crafting
the interiors-seven years in the making-
of the richly decorated palace with Italian
design elements. The 215 suites are lavish in
architecture and ornamentation, says Versace,
and clad head-to-toe in shiny finished white
Carrara marble, mosaic floors, and vaulted
ceilings with handpainted gilded details.
Following its first Palazzo Versace hotel
on Australia's Gold Coast, Jafar says Dubai
was a natural choice as a showcase for the
brand-both are benchmarks of extravagance
in their own right. "As the emirate continues to
position itself as the ultimate luxury destination,
the hotel takes Versace's trademark opulence
and envelops guests in that with bespoke
furnishings, luxurious fabrics, parquetry floors,
and richly colored silks."

Hard Rock Hotel Dubai Marina

The Hard Rock Hotel Dubai Marina will open
its doors late this year in the 1,400-foot-tall
Marina 101 located to the south of Dubai Creek.
The concrete and steel building, designed by
Dubai's National Engineering Bureau, will be
the second tallest tower in the UAE.
The Hard Rock brand fits the essence of
the project. "We were seeking an iconic global
brand boasting the same irreverent spirit as the
destination it represents," says Jassim Alseddiqi,

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May 2015 hospitalitydesign.com

CEO of Abu Dhabi Financial Group, an
investment partner for the project. Studio HBA
Dubai has been charged with the interiors of the
281-room hotel, which will occupy the building's
first 33 floors. Marina 101 is topped by a cloudnudging club lounge and high-profile restaurant
brand on the 101st floor, while other highlights
include an external glass-encased panoramic
elevator and a 160-foot structural steel crown.

Paramount Hotel Dubai

Hollywood glamour will come to Dubai in 2016
with the 801-room Paramount Hotel Dubai. The
hotel will occupy one of four 820-foot undulating
Damac Towers, alongside a multilevel shopping
plaza in the development by Dubai's Paramount
Hotels & Resorts.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based HLA
architecture and interior design firm is
orchestrating the movie set-inspired interiors,
says international corporate design director
Wella Zibian. "The overall feeling will be
theatrical with soft cinematic lighting. Lobby
areas and other public zones will integrate
video-mapped surfaces [3D projections and
sculptures] and digital signage." Eclectic details
will mix with the grand public spaces to create
the playful yet elegant interiors.
Rooms feature a palette of white leather,
chrome, purple, and beige fabrics. "We're
seeking simplicity with a crisp, clean, and
modern sense of ease," says HLA design
director Stéphane Lombard. "Furniture will be a
contemporary midcentury style of retro pieces of

6. A rendering of the
massive Mall of the
World development, set
to unfold over the next
10 years in Downtown
Dubai.

7. The Hard Rock Hotel
Dubai Marina will open
later this year in the
1,400-foot-tall Marina
101 building.

the 1950s and '60s with elements of Bauhaus."

ME Dubai

Next year, the Opus mixed-use complex, located
in the budding Business Bay district, will join
Dubai's architectural wonders. London-based
Zaha Hadid Architects is designing the interior
and exterior of the steel structure that will be
home to Meliá Hotels International's 100-room
ME Dubai. The 21-story property fuses two
buildings linked by a low-level podium, says
Hadid. "It takes the form of a cube hovering off
the ground," with a void through the middle.
The cube will light up at night, but by day,
Hadid says, the reflective glass façade has
"pixilated striations"-graphic patterns designed
to reduce solar gain and modulate light. "The
void cuts through the edges of the cube; its
interior clad in tinted double glazing allowing
for views within, and external plateaus will
provide areas for recreation and rest," she says.
The organic, futuristic interiors are accented
with smooth white sculptural and honeycombed
walls, raw materials, and a minimalist steel
white palette. Likewise for the rooms and
penthouses, which have "sculptural balconies,
angular beds, and fluid surfaces," Hadid says. hd

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Hospitality Design - May 2015

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