Located at the entrance to the Palm Jumeirah, the Nakheel Sales and Marketing Centre was the first dedicated sales and marketing office in Dubai, built to showcase future living environments and to host new launch events by Nakheel.

This project was one of the earliest successes in the development renaissance of Dubai and, although diminutive in itself, it signalled the birth of Palm Jumeirah, one of the most ambitious and now iconic development projects ever undertaken.

Continuing the theme of firsts, this was Diar Consult’s earliest collaboration with international consultants venturing into the Gulf market. Diar Consult offered its capabilities and knowledge of the local environment and practice while sharing the expertise and knowhow of HHCP Design International Inc. from Florida. HHCP provided the architectural concept design, which was then developed by Diar Consult through a series of design reviews to ensure code compliance of the final design. Diar provided complementary MEP and structural engineering services through the design process as well as, during construction, post-contract administration and construction supervision in all disciplines, and procurement of contractors and suppliers.

The building creates an ideal environment for the exhibition of architectural models of the Palm, presentation panels of projects undertaken, marketing videos and animations in a state-of-the-art theatre. It also includes hospitality pavilions for customers, dignitaries and VIPs, sales and marketing offices, and administrative quarters. As the first of its type, it provided a benchmark for what such facilities could be, and how such unprecedented projects could be marketed, all the while forming the physical gateway to Palm Jumeirah.

In 2014, the project won the Gold ARDY Award for Sales centres from the American Resort Development Association (ARDA).

The Merchant Buildings is a design for two eight-storey office buildings in the Furjan master planned zone of Dubai that was produced for a private real estate developer.

Designed in contemporary style, the articulated facades use composite aluminium cladding panels in two colours: silver grey and cream white. Ample glazing has been incorporated into the facade to ensure maximum penetration of light into the leased office space. The buildings are grounded on a granite clad plinth. The main entrance and all openings are protected by silver blades and fins, providing shade from direct sunlight.

The main entrance at ground level provides access to shared amenities, a full height atrium and the core, which includes two panoramic lifts. The ground floor accommodates a cafe, a bookshop, some office space and supporting service areas. Parking for visitors and tenants is provided in the

basement.

Typical office floors are designed to be highly practical and provide a degree of flexibility and freedom to subdivide the space into various sizes of commercial space. Circulation around the lift core and toilets is kept to a minimum to ensure maximum efficiency of the floor plate.

In 2008, Diar Consult was invited by a private investor based in Abu Dhabi to prepare a concept design proposal for a plot in the Saraya master planned development area of Sorouh, along the Abu Dhabi Corniche. The result is a 26-storey office tower with a multi-storey car park incorporated in the podium. The top floor of the podium is dedicated to a fitness centre, cafe, business centre and management offices, fostering a community feel for the offices.

The tower massing is characterised by a vertically curved facade with a high degree of transparency to capture the sea views. The plan form that results from the curve varies from one floor to the other, allowing a range of incrementally sized floor spaces to be offered for rent.

Erbil is one of the most ancient cities in the world and the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. In mid 2014, the region was in the midst of an economic boom. Being the only calm and secure area in violence-torn Iraq, the city was thriving and aspiring to take a leading economic role in the development of Kurdistan and of Iraq more broadly.

To facilitate this goal, the client invited Diar Consult to submit design proposals for the Erbil Stock Exchange, set to be the first exchange in the northern Kurdish enclave housing stock exchange offices, a trading floor, rental offices, an area for technical operations and ancillary services.

The project is immersed in both the ancient history of the city and the progressive, optimistic modernity of the stock exchange function, making the development a very diverse environment with a strong duality between the old and the new.

The design concept features three main elements:

— The wall: representing the traditional and historical layers of the city of Erbil

— The floating box: representing the modernity of the function

— The tower: accommodating the offices and representing growth and status.

The three elements are arranged on a raised platform, mimicking the artificial mound of Erbil’s historic Citadel, and are unified by a single water body reflecting the fluidity and speculative nature of the stock market.

The wall is given character by irregular openings derived from the architecture of the traditional houses in the Citadel. As a reflection of the city’s history, it has irregular stone courses and is engraved with ancient calligraphy.

The floating box is a transparent building that uses high-tech building materials, such as translucent, fibre-optic embedded concrete which makes the exterior look solid during daytime yet translucent and glowing at night. The language of the box is inspired by the stock price indices, ever changing and fluctuating, and is intended to project current activity. The façade crevices can be lit indirectly from the inside with a colour that matches the status of the market: red for a decrease, green for an increase and white for a stable market.

Unfortunately the optimism that generated the brief for the project has been undermined by instability in the region, which has put all development on hold.

Project team

• Diar Consult: Lead consultants
• Aldarah, Amman, Jordan: Associate architects

Located in the iconic Opus by Zaha Hadid, Office C302 was a single space finished to shell & core level when leased by Diar Consult who carried out the interior design. The brief was to provide an efficient use of space and a creative environment suitable for Diar Consult’s Dubai operation while maximising views of Business Bay and Burj Khalifa.

In addition to being responsive to the brief, Diar Consult also had to satisfy the stringent fit-out guidelines of the developer, M/s Omniyat.

The contemporary interior is zoned into three main areas:

• Reception and Admin Area
• Design Studio
• Executive Offices

PROJECT TEAM

• Diar Consult: Interior Design
• I.Concept International: Design Development and Follow-up
• Al Nabooda Interiors: Fit-out Contractor