Skip to content

Zaha Hadid Architects

Your Starred Items

Studio

Archive Search
Studio
Your Starred Items
Searching. Please Wait...

  • Filters

  • Filters

  • Filters

  • Filters

  • Awards
  • People
  • Publications
  • Videos
  • Careers

News

ME Dubai hotel opens this weekend

Located within the Opus for Omniyat, the ME Dubai hotel incorporates 93 guest rooms and suites.

Designed as two separate towers that coalesce into a singular whole, the Opus takes the form of a cube that has been ‘eroded’ in its centre.

The cube’s double-glazed insulating façades incorporate a UV coating and a mirrored frit pattern to reduce solar gain. Applied around the entire building, this dotted frit patterning emphasizes the clarity of the building’s orthogonal form, while at the same time, dissolving its volume through the continuous play of light varying between ever-changing reflections and transparency.

The void’s 6,000 square metre façade is created from 4,300 individual units of flat, single-curved or double-curved glass. The high-efficiency glazing units are comprised of 8mm Low-E glass (coated on the inside), a 16mm cavity between the panes and 2 layers of 6mm clear glass with a 1.52mm PVB resin laminate. This curved façade was designed using digital 3D modelling that also identified specific zones which required tempered glass.

During the day, the cube’s façade reflects the sky, the sun and the surrounding city; whilst at night, the void is illuminated by a dynamic light installation of individually controllable LEDs within each glass panel.

In recognition of his work creating the hotel, Zaha Hadid Architects’ director Christos Passas has been named ‘Architect of the Year’ at the The Brit List Awards 2020 by Hotel Designs, the hotel industry’s global search honouring its best designers, architects, hoteliers and suppliers.

Photograph by Laurian Ghinitoiu