Department City Abu Dhabi, UAE

Concept Design for government buildings in Abu Dhabi, UAE.*

The development is designed to allow existing government departments to share facilities and be housed in the same district. At the same time by ensuring the ground floor is occupied with cafes, restaurants, shops and a crèche, the development can become a destination in its own right.

Two building ideas have been explored. Each idea consists of four individual clusters, connected at ground and first floor, total area circa 35,000 m². Each cluster can house up to 500 people, with office space, both cellular and open plan, arranged around an atrium. It is intended that this space will be at the cutting edge of office design, allowing the departments to operate in a highly efficient manner. On the ground floor a lifestyle support will be provided in the form of a crèche, coffee shops for informal meetings and restaurants. For ease of access a basement car park is provided.

The location of the proposed office block, provisional at present, is on the edge of the Raha Beach development but it could equally be located in an evolving capital district identified in the 2030 plan. Both sites offer the benefit of being centrally positioned whilst Raha Beach has the additional benefit of offering an existing investment infrastructure and a scale and density commensurate with the size of the scheme. The destination location of Raha Beach could also support complimentary opportunities such as:

Great Centralisation of Government Entities

More Private Offices

A hotel/serviced apartments for short and medium stay visitors and;

A high quality ‘Regus’ style office complex