Maximum impact: DZ Design renovates the Citymax Hotel in Business Bay
DZ Design unveils its latest sustainable refurbishment project for Citymax Hotel in Business Bay, Dubai, achieving 40% savings through upcycling, reusing, and recycling existing furniture and finishes.
“The Citymax Hotel in Business Bay, Dubai, was ready to be opened to the public in February 2020. However, when the owner visited the hotel, he was not satisfied with the overall look and efficiency of the space,” explains Zain Belgami, managing director at DZ Design.
Given that the project was complete, allocating more funds for additional refurbishment was a worry. DZ Design was given AED3mn to rebuild and upgrade the lobby, public areas, public restrooms, three F&B units, the spa, gym, pool bar, conference rooms, and 22 suites, while 350 rooms will be refurbished during the second phase.
“Our team came on board the last-minute, proving that the design process that’s careful yet simplified can meet tight timelines and limited budget. This project is about the well-planned refurbishment that elevates and impacts the guest experience while recycling, retaining, and upcycling the existing finishes and furniture,” adds Dina Murali, design director at DZ Design.
Bold, warm, vibrant and full of life, Citymax is a distinctive hospitality experience focussed on delivering high-perceived value. Due to its typology, the hotel caters to long-stay business travellers and local guests; however, with greys and whites previously dominating the interiors, the client felt space was “too clinical”.
DZ Design chose a contemporary modern design, bringing warmth through timber finishes and indoor greenery associated with four-star hotels. The greatest impact was made in the lobby area. After the refurb, the lobby coffee shop doubles as a work café.
“They wanted us to look at the furniture details as they were unhappy with the overall look and feel and felt that the ethos of the brand did not stand out in any manner,” explains Murali. “We have reused existing storage counters, shelving, tables and chairs while existing sofas were re-upholstered. They’ve also created light fixtures from beer kegs in the bar instead of purchasing accent lighting. The furniture was also made locally, using the frames of existing units.”
DZ Design’s team also conceptualised the artworks in lobby and other lobby areas.
“Through thoughtful design and space planning, we’ve managed to increase the overall capacity in all public areas while adhering to the required social distancing guidelines. The lobby area was increased from 38 to 50 people; all-day dining from 60 to 91, and a roof-top pool bar from 20 to 30 people,” adds Belgami.
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Deyaar launches Regalia skyscraper in Business Bay
Deyaar announces the launch of Regalia, a AED1bn luxury skyscraper in Business Bay offering a smart and high-end urban lifestyle embodied by royalty and distinction.
Regalia will be the tallest tower Deyaar has ever built. The 70-storey premium residential building will feature smart home-enabled apartments. It offers a wide range of recreational and wellness amenities, including an Olympic-size infinity pool with private cabanas and Jacuzzis, a state-of- the-art family gymnasium, a yoga pavilion, and an outdoor winter cinema. The project also features social amenities, such as a BBQ and private dining areas, residents’ lounge and business centre, as well as indoor and outdoor children’s play areas. The amenities are nested within a wealth of organic landscape and great lawns providing the perfect environment for residents and owners to relax, unwind and enjoy quality time with their families and friends.
Speaking on the announcement, Saeed Al Qatami, CEO of Deyaar Development, said: “We are pleased to launch Regalia, our flagship skyscraper that will set a new benchmark for high-end urban living in the heart of the city. We anticipate that the project will appeal to investors as it has been designed to the highest international standards with an unparalleled collection of premium lifestyle amenities. Residents and investors can expect sleek and expressive architecture, elegant interiors, smart city technologies and seamless connectivity to major thoroughfares such as Al Khalil Road and Sheikh Zayed Road. As always, we affirm our commitment to delivering projects on time and look forward to commencing construction of Regalia in August 2021.”
With sleek, expressive and opulent architecture, Regalia will become a stunning landmark in Dubai’s ever-evolving skyline. The elegant interiors combine timeless, contemporary design with high-level functionality and aesthetic beauty, open spaces, high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows.
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In Pictures: Nanbo Bay Reception Center by Sunson Design
Nanbo Bay Reception Center in Yinchuan Shi, China by Sunson Design is mesmerising in every way.
The “Hall of time” is located at the entrance of the building, generating the first impression of the project which is natural, warm, mysterious, and full of the ritual sense that entering this hall will step into an “isolated” natural park.The divergent wooden dome simulates the sunlight, underneath which there’s a circular water view device marked with “Life should be spent on enjoying good things”, which showed life should be good and don’t waste time. Enjoy the lights, flowers, scenery, and settle down.
The reception hall is a small ecological miniature of “city rainforest” that the picturesque disorder bamboo forests, banyan trees, plantains, and other fresh green plants, and the low shrubs, wooden negotiation tables, and chairs has formed a longitudinally extending “indoor rainforest”, which realized the organic combination of indoor, landscape and virescence design.
Step out of the “rain forest” and walk into the sand table display area, where the small natural ecological landscape and stone walls highlight the key points of the space.
There is a ladder book bar on the left side of the reception hall. The floor-to-ceiling glass introduces natural light, which increases the permeability, allowing readers to be in the “golden house” and enjoy a quiet reading time.
The bookshelf wall between the bar and the corridor is a humanistic door that can trace the origins. The designer has borrowed the conception of the Yinchuan Water Tunnel Ruin here that to tell persons of the prosperous and historical heritage of ancient Yinchuan 30,000 years ago by the “sealed” animal fossil specimens which are made by resin and iron.
In the dining area, continuous arch elements bring a sense of exoticism, reflecting the harmony, communication, and warmth of the space.
Bright wallpaper with melon and fruit patterns, bamboo screens and window lattices, and original wooden tables and chairs all continue the natural ecological characteristics.
The reception area is bright and private. The custom hanging lamp woven by hemp rope shines like a galaxy. The office chairs made of half-wrapped flannel provide a sense of comfort and security for both parties, which gives full play to the functionality of the space.
The landscaped courtyard has its own unique features. The wooden sphere floor-to-ceiling sculpture remains motionless at the “opposite bank”, like a rock, a reed, a unique pastoral landscape.
The outer glass wall of the swimming pool creates the visual illusion of “zero gravity”, which makes people feel like swimming in the air and traveling around the world. The long wooden benches and stone sculptures by the pool, the soft film ceiling, and the glass light well allow the space to blend trees, water, music, natural light, and stone carving in nature.
Photo credit: Kanghui Zeng
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Select Group launches latest development in Business Bay
Select Group has announced the commencement of work on their 15th and latest project, 15 Northside in Business Bay. Having successfully handed over their most recent project, Jumeriah Living Marina Gate in July 2020, 15 Northside will be Select Group’s first foray into Business Bay and Dubai’s Downtown district.
The award-winning developer has become synonymous with luxurious, waterfront residences since its inception in 2002, and work on this latest property, perched on the waterways of Dubai Canal, has already begun in earnest this month.
Rahail Aslam, Chief Executive Officer, Select Group, said: “Having built a strong reputation for delivering premium residences, at a fantastic price point within Dubai Marina over many years, we are very excited by the prospect of bringing this same standard of quality to another area in Dubai.”
15 Northside, thanks to a unique and contemporary design, will offer a spectacular range of differing views from various vantage points across its 21 floors. These will include Dubai Canal, Dubai Creek, Burj Khalifa, Dubai Frame, Ras al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary and even sights of Ain Dubai.
“Business Bay is an excellent location for us to expand into, we have recently delivered one of the most talked-about developments in the city with Jumeirah Living Marina Gate, and are looking forward to bringing the Select Group standard of premium finishes and unmatched waterfront living Downtown” added Aslam.
The project will consist of two towers and contain 349 residential units in total, made of up of studios, one, two, and a select number of three-bedroom apartments. It will also provide a dual-level gym, a spacious deck floor with an infinity pool overlooking the Downtown Skyline and a relaxing roof terrace for all residents. The construction is almost 50% complete at present and is set to be completed by Q3, 2022.
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Kooheji Development awards Marazzi Group to supply tiles requirements for ONYX Bahrain Bay project
Kooheji Development, one of the largest and leading real estate developers in Bahrain, awarded Marazzi Group Italy, the worldwide leader in the design, manufacturing, and distribution of ceramic and porcelain stoneware floor and wall tiles to supply the tiles requirements for ONYX Bahrain Bay project.
The assigned two top international award-winning interior designers by Kooheji Development, developed bespoke two distinctive themes and colour collection for ONYX Bahrain Bay apartments. The two themes are the Madison and the Kingsbridge. Both themes have been designed as a definitive statement of style, with floor to ceiling, windows, and every apartment has been designed to maximise the view as well as focus on providing generous amounts of living space through effective interior space planning.
ONYX Bahrain Bay has over 1.6 million square foot total requirements of tiles, and Marazzi Group has been appointed as one of the suppliers to collaborate with Kooheji real estate team to supply full range of tiles.
Engr Mohammed Abdulghaffar Al Kooheji, GM – Kooheji Development said: “Kooheji Development has been long respected for the intelligent integration of architecture and interior design, our philosophy” simplicity creates beauty” is demonstrated in the use of the highest quality materials, sophisticated colours and strong attention to details. Our methodology has proofed to be a success in creating unique real estate development and high-rise residential towers that shaped the residential towers lifestyle experience in Bahrain the way people know it, by elevating the community experience and adding unique amenities to the residential towers’ community lifestyle.”
Al Kooheji further added: “The selected tiles are Marazzi’s top of the range and finest tiles available in Marazzi Group worldwide. The design, finishes, and patterns have been carefully selected by Kooheji’ s Interior Design team and Engineers with pre-set criteria for our project to ensure it achieves the required functionality and complements the project’s colour pallets. We have selected top of the range marbles finishes of tiles ranges from cool to warm colours such as Statuario, Calacatta, Armani Grey, dolomite, Tafu and grey Travertine to complement our interior designer pallets ranging from light cool colour to warm colours. For the Madison, we have selected the cool pallet marble imitation with very light veins with saturated cool effect to complement our cool pallets. As for the warm pallet, we have selected marble imitation with darker, stronger colour and more variation in colours to complement our warm pallet colour.”
Engr. Wajdi Ahmadie, regional manager, Marazzi Group Italy commented: “We are proud to announce our deal and commitment to Kooheji Development in their iconic new high-rise project Onyx Bahrain Bay a unique concept in the GCC and Bahrain in terms of design, quality and vanguard technology. We will be suppling and for the first time in the kingdom of Bahrain our “Full Body Porcelain Tiles in Slabs” Made in Italy which is the best in design and most expensive tile imitation of marble look, wood and stone finish made by our latest technology of 2019.”
AMAALA awards construction supervision contract to Saudi Arabian Parsons for Triple Bay project
AMAALA has appointed Saudi Arabian Parsons Limited (Parsons), who, following a competitive tender, was awarded the construction supervision contract. The digitally enabled solutions provider is taking on the role of engineer, supervising the execution of works currently underway across Phase I of Triple Bay.
Binyah, a Saudi Real Estate Infrastructure Company, joins Parsons onsite carrying out the excavation, backfilling, and earthworks required to achieve the formation levels and grading of Phase I of the Triple Bay masterplan.
Nicholas Naples, CEO of AMAALA, said: ‘We are delighted to work with two prestigious firms on a project of this scale. We are very pleased with the progress to date and have welcomed the expertise and experience both Parsons and Binyah have brought to the development of the destination. We celebrated a milestone moment in our history when work on onsite began, and we are looking forward to working closely together to bring our vision for Triple Bay to life. Together we will deliver an ultra-luxury destination for future generations around the globe, nested in the long-term vision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
AMAALA’s environmental team is guiding Parsons and Binyah on the AMAALA site to oversee all stages of development, ensuring work is being carried out within its sustainability and environmental guidelines.
Ken Murray, managing director of Saudi Arabian Parsons Limited, said: “As an iconic development in the Kingdom, AMAALA is set to become a preeminent destination for travellers from the world over. Parsons is thrilled to join the delivery team, and we look forward to supporting the Triple Bay development and continue our proud participation in the delivery of Vision 2030 for Saudi Arabia.”
Set in the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Nature Reserve across three unique communities, AMAALA will bring to life the desires and ambitions of a community passionate about shaping and living transformative moments. AMAALA’s trio of communities – Triple Bay, The Coastal Development, and The Island – will showcase three different sets of experiences for guests.
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