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DIFC Office Building
DIFC, Dubai, UAE
Category: Commercial
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Year: 2014 - 2015
Task: Concept, Sketchup modeling, floor plans.
Programs: Sketchup - Autocad - Photoshop - Indesign
Occupying the last vacant plot in Gate Village, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), this scheme contains offices and high-end F&B. It was conceived as an extension of the existing development yet required a different approach due to its position at an intersection, with views towards Emirates Towers. Lacasa’s design fused the different architectural languages of the surrounding buildings; the end result is a powerful blueglass mass with an alternating modular pattern, overlapped by an outer skin of granite, mullions and screens.
An abstraction of the DIFC logo was integrated into the structure of the building – a stylized and visually powerful V-shape column carries the main glass mass at the front façade. The client brief required maximization of the floor plate – this presented a challenge due to the irregular geometry of the site. We were requested to come out with 3 different options for facades, one to be identical to the existing architectural style, another one to be a bit different with a mix of modern touches, and the third one to be iconic and different from the surrounding urban fabric. In order to fit within the urban context, designers camouflaged the shape, giving different impressions of the proposed buildings.
My task was to come up with an iconic option and try to link it cohesively to the surrounding area. So, in order to make that achievable, I had to make the form follow the shape of the adjacent buildings by replacing the stone screening with the crossed structural system and duplicating the glazing in order to increase the thermal isolation.
That structure was adapted from the main gate building in the DIFC and to reflect the identity of the area.
