Strategically located between the Dubai International Airport and the Mirdif residential district, Mirdif City Centre is a reflection of Dubai’s position as an international retail destination committed to sustainable living. The 2,500,000-square-foot development’s design is driven by its surrounding environmental factors including infrastructure, transportation systems, and water and energy sources.
As one of the Middle East’s first retail venues to meet U.S. LEED Gold standards, the center’s architecture combines sustainable design with concepts that reflect the region’s arid but rich landscape. The design incorporates a number of sustainable strategies including native landscaping, shading devices and energy-efficient water and lighting systems that help maximize natural daylight while controlling heat absorption.
Mirdif City Centre’s interior ‘Desert Villa’ concept is a collection of enclosed and semi-enclosed spaces connected by a series of streets and passages. The development combines retail, dining, cinema and other leisure components within a two-level space that accommodates 430 retail outlets, including eight anchor stores, and a three-level parking structure. The public spaces, that can accommodate large groups of people for promotional events, rise to three-stories and boast dramatic clerestory ceilings with extensive graphic and lighting installations.
The mall’s front door is The Garden Plaza, a lushly landscaped outdoor space that integrates effortlessly with the mall’s interior. Inside, the Entry Court, the first room in the Desert Villa series, creates a bold iconic statement with a large glassy space that is ideally located for signature restaurants and cafes.
The other courts, double and triple-height rooms at the mall’s intersections, each take on a unique character; visitors travel to the Eden court, a continuation of the Garden Plaza’s landscape theme, through a sequence of intermediate spaces to the Palm Court. The Desert Court, which intersects with the east mall, is an interpretation of the region’s native scenery. All courts connect to a succession of contrasting malls and rooms that enhance the experience of moving from one area into another. Three types of space in each zone create visual and sensory variety: Transition Malls with lower ceilings, White Rooms with medium-height ceilings and tapered central balconies, and the more colorful and decorative Central Rooms.
From a retail standpoint, the center is planned with the shopper in mind; its rectangular layout with abundant elevators, escalators, and travelators provide easy customer circulation. Utilizing a zoned approach to merchandising, complementary shops are placed in loosely organized districts, maximizing cross-shopping opportunities across related retail categories.
In addition to being a leading retail destination, Mirdif City Centre prioritized environment-friendly construction and design from its inception, which was an enormous obstacle in the hot desert climate. The project is constructed with highly efficient materials that reduce the solar heat gain into the mall and the demand for air-conditioning.
Other selected materials, such as carpets, paints and concrete, are low in volatile organic compounds and sourced locally to reduce construction waste and transportation. By developing a finely tuned concept, the design team was able to exceed its goal of creating a luxury retail space for an environmentally conscious community.
Project Name
Mirdif City Centre
Location
Dubai, UAE
Square Footage
2.5 million
Architect
RTKL Associates
Developer/Owner
Majid Al Futtaim Group
Implementation Architect
Holford Associates
Environmental Graphic Design
RTKL Associates
Signage and Wayfinding
Fitch
Project Manager
Mace International
Main Contractor
Al Jaber
Lighting Design
WSP
Landscape Design
Cracknell
Structural Engineering
Mott MacDonald
M&E Consulting Engineer
WSP
Traffic & Parking
Maunsell
Cost Consultant
EC Harris