Innovation Center-Dubai Sustainable City

The Diamond Innovation Center is aimed to serve as a new hub of education in order to raise awareness on the importance of energy

saving, sustainability and innovation processes.In order to achieve the elegantly twisting form of the innovation center, the architectural expression

for this project draws its inspiration from the natural lines and the dynamic and fluid shapes found in the waves of the Arabian Gulf.

The project is comprised of a large auditorium that will host educational seminars and conferences along with a large conference

hall, a spacious exhibition hall as well as two breathtaking triple-height entrance lobbies that play an essential role in

providing the users with a unique spatial experience as they journey into the architecture of the innovation center.

Furthermore, in order to provide the users with an ethereal architectural experience, an elegantly curved skylight was designed

to run along the length of the building and allow for natural light to wash over the interior spaces and bounce off of the

building’s lofty internal walls.

Triple height glass facades were introduced on each end of the building in order to create a smooth connection and transition

between the interior spaces and the exterior landscape.

Not only was the lush landscaping around the innovation center designed to enhance the experience of the center’s visitors

but it was also designed to establish a balance between the man made ultramodern architecture and the natural elements of

air, water and earth.

As the project’s entire design process revolves around the issue of sustainability, many creative methods were included in the

design of the architecture in order to ensure its success at energy saving. For instance, the twisting form of the building seems

to be a mere formal gesture at first, but it actually serves a bigger purpose by allowing the building to self-shade, which will in

turn reduce the heat gain drastically and ensure the project to be a positive energy building.

Another way of tackling the issue of heat gain was through providing solid facades on the western and eastern elevations of

the building and placing an entirely glass glazed facade on the southern elevation in order to allow the sunlight to seep through

and illuminate the interior of the building in the winter season only.

With numerous solar panels placed across the roof of the building as well as the parking area, not only does the Diamond

Innovation Center aim to establish itself as an example for one of the most sustainable and energy saving buildings in the city

of Dubai but as one of the most iconic buildings in the city’s rich urban context.

Note:
Sharif Rahmani was Architectural Director-Special Projects at Arif and BinToak
Images Copyright reserved to Arif and BinToak.