Gensler's design for the new NBAD headquarters is meant to embody the bank's increasing global prominence, says its head of facilities. Sarah Dea / The National
Gensler's design for the new NBAD headquarters is meant to embody the bank's increasing global prominence, says its head of facilities. Sarah Dea / The National

Abu Dhabi's NBAD banks on style



Looming over Abu Dhabi's financial free zone like a partly cut deck of giant playing cards, the new global headquarters of National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) is set to be yet another grand vision of the future.

Working on the city's unofficial motto of "if you build it they will come", construction work on the 31-storey, 67,300 square metre Gensler-designed tower is due to start this summer on Al Maryah island close to the Sowwah Square scheme as the bank seeks to accommodate the vast numbers of new staff it expects to take on in the coming years.

But that's not the half of it: the new global headquarters will be used by NBAD in addition to its existing NBAD Towers headquarters in Khalifa Street, which will be retained for the domestic banking business, and a third office tower in Khalidiya, which will be used for the bank's operational business. And the lender is planning to start work on a new headquarters for its Northern Emirates staff in Dubai over the coming months.

"The building will take about 4,000 staff. At the moment I think we have around 2,400," says Ayad Mohammed Ahmed, the head of bank premises and facilities management at NBAD. "I can tell you there will be only a few floors empty and they will fill up in no time.

"The bank today is not like it was eight years ago. Between 1990 and 2009 the bank grew 10 times in profits," he says. "Now it is full there, it is full here, it is full everywhere. And we are renting the surrounding buildings here and there. We are paying too much rent. Can you imagine what will happen in the three or four years until our building is ready?" he adds.

Built in a similar style to Barclays' recently completed building on the Canary Wharf estate in London, Mr Ahmed says the new global headquarters is designed to send a message to the world.

"NBAD always ties itself to Abu Dhabi and its success is Abu Dhabi's success. So we were moved to pick a design that would best suit Abu Dhabi's vision," he says.

"The National Bank of Abu Dhabi aspires to be the next trendsetter. We're not going to make it as good as them, we're going to make it better. And the NBAD building should embody all of that. We are the Barclays of Abu Dhabi. We are the Citibank of Abu Dhabi.

"NBAD is the champion of Abu Dhabi and if not the top bank in the UAE then certainly one of the top banks, so our facade aims to encapsulate the optimism of the UAE and the vision of 2030."

And as well as offices for 4,000 people, the vast new edifice is designed to include a hub branch of NBAD that both regular customers and VIP customers can use as well as a vault, safety deposit boxes, a 400-seat auditorium, cafes, restaurants and sumptuous executive floors.

According to the bank, excavation work to dig eight storeys below the ground has already started and construction is set to begin in the third quarter of the year.

Having bought the land for the new headquarters three years ago from Mubadala for Dh400 million, NBAD then set about selecting an architect to design it from among the most prestigious firms in the world.

"First of all we made investigations all over the world for all bank buildings. We studied 20 or 30 architects from all over the world, all the major financial hubs - at New York, London, Hong Kong, all over - and we are really sure that we will not only be equal to them, we will be more than them," says Mr Ahmed.

"That was the basis for selecting the consulting firms. Do they have enough experience? Then we shortlisted eight international firms - the ones we thought could do such projects."

Then, to judge the entries, NBAD set up a special committee of building experts, urban planning experts and the bank's top brass to evaluate each of the submissions based on a detailed set of criteria including aesthetics, functionality, cost and environmental impact.

"The technical criteria took up about 20 pages to analyse, the financial took just a few pages. All of these together allowed the jury to come up with a mark or a rating for each of the submissions. None of them could tick 100 per cent," Mr Ahmed says. "[The UK architect Lord] Norman Foster did not get the best rank. He got about 70 something. The most acceptable one got a mark of 86 per cent. Still that means he still has some gaps to fill here and there. You can select him as the best. When you award him the job you can sit with him until you fill all the gaps to come with 100 per cent."

The American firm Gensler's winning design comprises a single block covered in aluminium fins and divided into two thin towers by a symmetrical central core.

"It's a very square building and the space layout internally is very efficient," says Tareq Abu-Sukheila, the managing director at Gensler. "We actually came up with five design concepts and this one was selected. They really liked the formal look and solidity of the building."

Vertical fins, ranging between 30 and 45 centimetres in width, shade the glass building from direct sunlight and make the shape of the NBAD logo on the facade.

"The building is huge," says Mr Abu-Sukheila. "Including parking spaces, in total it will be about 1.5 million square feet. And part of the building is actually built in the water. It is very ambitious."

Currently Gensler is designing the sumptuous penthouse office interiors for NBAD's 10 highest executives and the fit-out for the lavish top-management dining area.

"What we have here is very custom-made and traditional with very specific rugs and woods. We are looking at some finishes with hand-woven carpets and silk," says Mr Abu-Sukheila.

"Carpets, marble floors, high-end woods, very fancy leather seats, customised lighting fixtures. Most clients are going for modern western design, Italian furniture, but a bit more luxury."

Much of the firm's time has been spent devising ingenious ways to allow the various categories of people using the building access to it while keeping them separate.

"The accessibility of staff and visitors has to be carefully considered," adds Mr Abu-Sukheila.

"There is a specific access for visitors and access for staff and access for VIPs and top management as well. So when we designed the building we had to consider those four types of people."

"We are trying very much to accommodate the culture within this region and culturally here, the top management usually have their own lifts - it's the same thing with the VIPs. The NBAD board consists of some of the Royal Family so they will not go as part of the regular staff lift or visitors from outside."

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg

Rating: 4/5

Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

Who has been sanctioned?

Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.

Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.

Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.

Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.

LILO & STITCH

Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders

Director: Dean Fleischer Camp

Rating: 4.5/5

ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand

UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
Hogarth

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Our legal consultants

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to report a beggar

Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)

Dubai – Call 800243

Sharjah – Call 065632222

Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372

Ajman – Call 067401616

Umm Al Quwain – Call 999

Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411

Types of fraud

Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.

Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.

Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.

SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.

Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.

Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.

* Nada El Sawy

Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EHigh%20fever%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EIntense%20pain%20behind%20your%20eyes%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ESevere%20headache%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EMuscle%20and%20joint%20pains%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ENausea%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EVomiting%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ESwollen%20glands%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ERash%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIf%20symptoms%20occur%2C%20they%20usually%20last%20for%20two-seven%20days%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Power: 300hp

Torque: 420Nm

Price: Dh189,900

On sale: now