BINGHATTI DEVELOPERS
THE ART OF PROPERTY
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
|1
INTERVIEW: BINGHATTI DEVELOPERS
THE
A PROP RT OF ERTY
“ALL OF OUR BUILDINGS FOLLOW A VERY SIMILAR STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE, SOMETHING LIKE LAMBORGHINI OR FERRARI DO WITH THEIR CARS.”
2 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Muhammad Binghatti, CEO and Head of Architecture at Binghatti Developers, about how parametric design and sustainability can work hand-in-hand. Binghatti Developers is a Dubai-based property development company, specializing in elegant, aesthetically striking buildings which fuse luxury and sustainability. Founded in 2012, Binghatti Developers is a subsidiary of Binghatti Holding, one of the largest holding companies in the United Arab Emirates. Binghatti Developers has worked on almost 40 projects across Dubai over the last eight years. “Ever since our inception, we’ve oriented our style toward the ‘art’ of property,” says Muhammad Binghatti, CEO and Head of Architecture at Binghatti Developers. “The idea was to create a real estate brand. You hear the word ‘brand’ a lot, but for us branding is almost as important as fashion brands like Louis Vuitton or Gucci. We wanted something that has an iconic design, to develop a brand identity so you could identify any of our buildings without even reading the logo or the name. We were able to achieve that through a very unique style of architecture. All of our buildings follow a very similar style of architecture, something like Lamborghini or Ferrari do with their cars.” With a young, dynamic team, Binghatti Developers’ approach focuses on high-quality, architecturally distinctive properties at affordable prices. “We provide products that are very unique in terms of quality, in which we always use the same finishings and fittings, regardless of it being a high-end or mid-range development,” explains Mr. Binghatti. “This means we can focus on things like substantiality. A small in-house team fo-
cus on achieving green building guidelines, making sure everything we do is according to ASHRAE sustainable standards.” UNIQUE SELLING POINT “Our major recent project was Millennium Binghatti Residences in Business Bay, an apartment tower located on the water canal in Dubai,” says Mr. Binghatti. “That comprises about 230 apartments, and the project is valued around 300 million dirhams. We also launched Binghatti Gateway and Binghatti Views, both just three minutes away from downtown Dubai. That’s a total of around 1000 apartments between them. Together, the combined project value was just below 1 billion dirhams. We have about 20 consolidated, delivered, and ongoing projects buildings in the important Silicon Oasis area. Then we have another four proMUHAMMAD BINGHATTI, CEO AND HEAD OF ARCHITECTURE
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
|3
United Sugar Company operates as a subsidiary of the Savola Group Company. United Sugar Company (USC) is a pioneer in its field, being the first sugar refinery in the Saudi market since 1995 and remains the only local manufacturer to date. Starting with only one refinery in Jeddah to cover local demand in Saudi Arabia; today our products are available throughout the MENA region from three different sugar refineries in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. USC is considered as one of the top three refineries in the world in capacity USC is by far the biggest player in the local Saudi market mainly through its flagship Brand “Al Osra� which is available in white sugar, brown sugar, Icing sugar as well as cubes, and sachet sticks. In Business to business, USC is the market leader in the Saudi market in providing sweetening solutions. Our customers are mainly CSD, Juices, and Confectionaries factories. USC has different products and packages to maintain their needs. Our B2B products: Fine, coarse, extra fine, liquid, icing sugar, and Molasses. 4 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
www.unitedsugar.com
INTERVIEW: BINGHATTI DEVELOPERS jects in Jumeirah Village Circle, along with a further three in Dubailand, totaling about 1000 apartments.” Millennium Binghatti Residences represents the culmination of Binghatti Developers’ unique approach to design. “The design is the unique selling point in this project,” says Mr. Binghatti. “It was the first project where we applied parametric design and methodology into the building’s geometry. It really suited our branding, and it also helped achieve and enhance sustainability in the real estate. So, for example, the tilt of the balconies is done in a very specific way according to sun pass diagrams that we did during site analysis, while also helping to maximize the balconies’ views of the canal.” VANGUARD TECHNOLOGY By taking a parametric approach to the design of Millennium Binghatti Residences, Binghatti Developers were able to develop a building which combined sustainability, a striking aesthetic, and inhabitant-friendly functionality. “The idea was we analyzed the sun path diagrams for the site and, based on that, we started to play around with the Grasshopper script to achieve an organic twist in the geometry of the buildings,” says Mr. Binghatti. “If you look at the buildings, it’s apparent how we applied this geometry to the buildings. The idea of creating this projection and multiplying this projection as a balcony across the whole facade really deals with the issue of climate fear in places like the Middle East. We really think about the facade as a texture and ask how we should treat this texture with geometry that keeps our brand while protecting from solar radiation. We also introduced a mashrabiya system, in accordance to this idea of achieving maximum protection from solar radiation. Crucially, it also provides a nice inhabitable space for our residents. You see a lot of them sitting on the balconies and enjoying 6 months of brilliant Dubai weather. Our facades are very functional and really enhance the sustainability of our buildings. Most buildings
you see across Dubai are covered with blocks or highly reflective glass, but we really tried to change that mentality with our buildings.” Binghatti Developers used a variety of cutting-edge technologies and materials to achieve a low environmental footprint in Millennium Binghatti Residences. “The materials we specified for this building, the glass size, the solar reflective index (SRI) of the glass and the reflectance of the paint, every single detail in this project was studied very carefully,” explains Mr. Binghatti. “The glass type we use has a higher SRI than is standard. It’s even more efficient than using blocks on a facade. And the type of paint we specify has a very high reflectance, so it reflects sun rays away very
efficiently. We also have high-efficiency air conditioning machines in the building. The standards we follow is considered one of the highest according to ASHRAE standards. We follow sustainability guidelines during construction, as well, where we have a strict regime for waste management, site organization, waste and water disposal, and other core functions.” HOLISTIC DESIGN “We’re always oriented towards what’s new,” says Mr. Binghatti. “New technology we can use or apply in our building systems to enhance sustainability and enhance efficiency. New ways to add more value for our investors. Our buildings already have a very contemporary look to them, so we’d like to complement that with two factors: technology and sustainability. We are striving to become the Apple of real estate. That’s essentially our vision at the moment. We’re always holding workshops internally in the company, looking at what systems we can upgrade. Automated lighting systems, automated air conditioning systems in the public areas, that sort of thing. We want to really dig down into the deepest of details to provide a holistic solution for our end users.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
|5
Binghatti Developers Suite 108, Level 1, DIFC Gate Village 6 P.O. Box 482010, Dubai, UAE T. +971 4 3 555 888 E. info@binghatti.com binghattidevelopers.com
SUSTAINABLE
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
SBM Media Ltd, The Henderson Business Centre, 51 Ivy Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR5 8BF, UK T: +44 (0)1603 516519 E:mail: info@sustainablebusinessmagazine.net www.sustainablebusinessmagazine.net
6 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE