Dubai Smart Government HQ, Dubai

Bluehaus Group was approached by Smart Dubai Government to design an innovative and leading-edge working space. Smart Dubai Government is leading governmental establishment and equally required an office fit for the future that put employee wellbeing at the forefront of priorities.

The approach Bluehaus Group has taken to draw inspiration for the concept is to look at elements from the Emirati culture that would resonate with the mostly local staff in representing a modern yet nostalgic space that would stand the test of time. Biophilic design is not only driven from greenery yet drawn from the human’s love for the living elements, their own nature and what better way to represent the UAE’s nature than to look at the blue ocean, the sand dunes and the desert oasis. The design of the space from planning to material selection was carefully orchestrated to follow elements to tie into the UAE culture in a indirect way, creating a harmonious nostalgic experience. Summertown Interiors was assigned to realize the fit-out requirements of the project.

Adapting international trends to a culture sensitive experience, where an open plan is balanced with closed offices for shelter and privacy. The CEO office is a good example of adapting to the office of the future by having open meeting points yet reserving privacy when needed in his “tent” like office. Bluehaus Group were lucky to have such a progressive CEO which didn’t take much to sell the design concept but having cutting edge technology like Revit and Virtual Reality rendering helped tremendously in having the CEO on board with the office culture shift.

The social areas on levels 9 and 10 are where the concept went in a more fun direction, the collaboration area on the 10th floor is designed as an oasis camp site speaking to the rooted culture of family gathering under the desert sky, while on the 9th floor, the collaboration area took pages from the pearl harvesting storybooks and interpreted them into a whimsical experience evident in the materials and refined details.