Vida Hotel and Apartments

Squire and Partners has designed the Vida Hotel and Apartments, a key site within the Dubai Creek Harbour development, on behalf of EMAAR and Mirage Leisure & Development. The masterplan has been conceived to establish a new urban retail district which prioritises the pedestrian experience with interconnected streets, shaded colonnades, courtyards and lanes. Along with Santiago Calatrava’s sculptural Observation Tower, the scheme is progressing towards detail design stage with a view to completing in 2021.

Located at the starting point of one of the main axial streets in Dubai Creek Harbour, The Vida Hotel and Apartments will provide a significant cornerstone which announces the wider development. The design is inspired by traditional Arabesque forms and patterns, translated into a contemporary aesthetic which utilises a minimal palette of materials to express simple but beautiful forms. Traditional Islamic motifs and tessellation are explored to create bespoke repetitive motifs used throughout the architecture and interiors.

The Vida development is orientated to maximise views of local landmarks such as the Calatrava tower and the Burj Khalifa , and expressed as three distinct elements: a tower containing 220 hotel rooms and 330 apartments with shared amenities; a single storey restaurant pavilion; and a three storey retail finger block connected to an adjacent mall which features a rooftop swimming pool and bar.

A repeating Mishrabiya inspired filigree screen is used to articulate the separation of uses between buildings, and provides detail within window bays and balcony recesses. These three elements are surrounded by a series of walled gardens which provide areas for relaxation and contemplation.