+ PUBLIC BUILDING

Our congratulations to the winners of the second annual id Design Awards. Selected by our world-renowned expert judges – Marco Piva, Paolo Pininfarina, Terry Dwan and Nani Marquina – this year’s winners had stiff competition. All entries were stunning and represented the highest levels of design and architecture. We thank each exceptional competitor for helping to make Dubai and the MENA region a leading global design capital of the 21st Century. With architecture by Janus Rostock, Design Director at Atkins, interior design by WA International and Auditorium Arts Architecture, UK, and development by Emaar, the 35,000-square metre Dubai Opera is exhilarating.

The design of this new arts and lifestyle destination for Dubai and the world is deeply rooted in Dubai’s maritime history, and draws inspiration from the Arabian dhow.

Uniquely, the interior can be transformed from a theatre into a concert hall and into ‘flat floor’ format for banquet or events. It features high-quality finishes and stunning furnishings and accessories, including a magnificent Lasvit chandelier.

Dubai Opera invites the public to actively engage with urban space and the city, challenging and elevating notions of public space. Its open façade enhances the arrival experience through the plaza, contributing to the institution’s ‘ theatre of people’ theme, which allows audience members to become ‘performers’, animating the public realm. Judges applauded its architectural effect and the relationship between the square and the landscape. They also noted how its design, urbanistically, has a large long-term role and responds excellently both to city and brief. They also thought that its use of wood and glass, contrasting curves and the promise of urban integration, are engaging.