Alserkal Avenue is a vibrant community of contemporary art galleries, visual and performing arts organisations, designers, and artisanal spaces. A dynamic sanctuary is designed to highlight a sensorial and sustainable communal public space, fostering forward-thinking designs whilst preserving regional cultural heritage and cultivating community engagement.

Living in an era where authentic connections are replaced with constant virtual connectivity, we seek to offer a space that triggers diverse types of interactions and behaviors whether individually, intimate or larger group activities, festivals or private events; a shared foundational value with Alserkal Avenue. The aim is to support, preserve and encourage the cultural heritage of the region and its local artisanship whilst developing sustainable design processes. The site-specific public space enables a program bustling with diverse activities, integrating nature, as well as the man-made built environment.

Biodiversity and Harmonizing with Nature |
The new interventions thoughtfully seek to soften the existing industrial fabric, creating a delicate balance between the built environment and greenery. This intentional contrast with the surroundings evokes a sense of nature reclaiming the space, transforming it into an urban oasis where visitors can reconnect with the natural world amidst the city's hustle and bustle. This not only enhances the ecological aspect of the project but also invites local biodiversity to coexist harmoniously with urban spaces and cools down the air temperature during intense heat seasons. In collaboration with Dubai-based landscape designer Zain Masud, we thoughtfully integrated wild lush gardens featuring local indigenous plants and water planes throughout Alserkal Avenue.

Community, Exchange, and Adaptability |
The new urbanscape at Alserkal Avenue focuses on further transforming the industrial space into a hub of interconnectivity, awareness, and sociability. The project intends to be a surface for contact, exchange and innovation: a shared space that utilises a wide spectrum of our senses, dedicated to engage and inspire visitors, trigger communal activities, forge connections, develop forward-thinking initiatives, and consolidate the artistic and cultural community. This implements a dynamic flow between indoor and outdoor activities, offering a flexible topography that encourage community members and visitors to creatively appropriate the spaces however they imagine and need, and to accommodate Alserkal’s multiple and diverse events: food markets, art and cultural exhibitions, poetry readings, group meetings, lunch breaks, music festivals, film projections, health and wellness sports activities, children’s activities, fashion events, and more.

Eco-Conscious Design & Local Craftsmanship |
We experimented and developed new materials by recycling discarded materials collected in the region and giving them a new life in innovative textures, contributing to the reduction of waste and the promotion of circular design. This approach minimizes the carbon footprint of the project, ensures the repurposing of materials in our dense built environment, and reduces the environmental impact of the project, aligning with global environmental goals. A strong emphasis is to promote regional crafts, preserving cultural traditions and supporting local artisans and fostering economic empowerment within the community.