International Convention Center Dubai

International Convention Center Dubai —a key forum for the international business community.
With its highly conducive business environment, Dubai is deliberately honing its profile as the financial, technological and investment hub of the Middle East by continually investing in its already high performance infrastructure. An outlay of US$ 231 million has brought the World Trade Center of the Emirate right up to speed in terms of architectural design and engineering excellence. At the core of the update: the International Convention Center Dubai designed and built by Robert Mathew Johnson Marshall (RMJM). Since its completion, Dubai has been able to offer the largest congress capacity in the region. However, according to Brian Emmery, boss of the local team of 25, for RMJM, too, the project represented a major milestone in view of the enormous dimensions involved.

The briefing provided by the client for this internationally active architectural and engineering company was remarkably well-brief: the requirement was “simply” for a congress centre capable of satisfying all the demands implicit in the staging of international mega-events. The première congress had already been booked when the order  was awarded—prestigiously, the first annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund in an Arabian country. The facility therefore had to provide an appropriate  atmosphere, and one that would enable 15,000 delegates from 184 countries to work effectively under Gulf conditions. The second requirement: as part of the Trade Center, this new “auditorium” was also to have the capability of being divided into smaller halls. This would mean that the Convention Center could also be utilised as additional exhibition floorspace for trade fairs when there were no other commitments on the programme.

The 13-metre-high Sheikh Rashid Hall, which RMJM designed for the Convention Center, fulfils all these criteria to superb effect. Equipped with the very latest technology, it offers a wide range of possibilities over an area measuring 7,760 square metres (83,500 sq. ft.). Here, conferences, plenary meetings and exhibitions can be held under ideal conditions, as can sports events, theatrical performances and concerts for up to 6,000 spectators.  Walls, stage elements and segmental seating assemblies offer maximum variability, enabling the organisers to design their spaces just as they need them. “Whatever the event, the Sheikh Rashid Hall can be configured to meet the individual needs involved” underlines Mubarak bin Fahad, Director of the Trade Center.

When it came to creating the optimum technical conditions required for the variable configuration of the large congress hall, the team under Brian Emmery put their faith in a member company of the DORMA Group: Modernfold supplied the sound-insulating partitioning system that serves to divide the area into smaller exhibition  areas during fairs and exhibitions.
And high-performance solutions from all the other DORMA product groups can also be found in the International Convention Center Dubai. A smooth flow of visitors entering and leaving the congress complex is guaranteed by 18 four-winged KTV-A revolving doors in a stainless steel finish. Also installed are 52 fully automatic swing door operators of the type ED 200, not to mention door closers and AD 4000 emergency exit devices—all from DORMA. In order to protect the area from unauthorised entry, the doors of the Convention Center are also equipped with a DORMA access control system. And for their own reception and meeting rooms, the architects again opted for a product from Ennepetal in Germany: the glass wall elements are held in place by MANET single-point fixings. “Just in time” completion RMJM designed and implemented not
only the Convention Center itself but also its peripherals and the building’s integration within the World Trade Center—and all in just 26 months. Generously dimensioned 13-metre-high concourses provide the link between the congress area and the eight halls of the exhibition site.

In these malls are located various stores, restaurants and service amenities such as a post office which is also conveniently accessed via a DORMA HSW-G sliding glass panel frontage. The infrastructure of the fully air-conditioned complex includes a 14-storey office block with 28,000 square meters (301,000 sq. ft.) of useful floor space, a three-storey podium construction,
the reception building, two hotels and multi-storey garages comprising a total of 70,000 square metres (753,200 sq. ft.) with parking space for over 4,500 vehicles.

And the fact that the British construction experts were also able to handle an additional order within the timeframe— involving the demolition and reconstruction of two exhibition halls, each on a plot of 4,200 square metres (45,000 sq. ft.)— was almost forgotten given the fact that this huge project was still concluded right on schedule.

Prominent Features

Major events on an international stage are realised with DORMA products.