They are just some of the buildings that define the UAE. But what is the story behind them? In the fifth part of our summer series celebrating the country’s architecture, we look at the history behind Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace.
The Hilton was Abu Dhabi’s first five-star hotel and a Corniche landmark that ushered in a new era of internationalism for the city.
When it opened in 1973, the Hilton brought with it delicacies such as smoked salmon, and signalled to the world the emirate had arrived.
As the city grew during the 1980s and 1990s, new hotels opened that challenged Hilton’s supremacy.
But by the early 2000s, a new hotel was planned that would eclipse them all.
In the very rooms of the old Hilton in the early 2000s, a team from one of the world’s top architectural firms was overseeing something special being built only a stone’s throw away.
This red-hued structure, already rising on the Corniche, would become a global landmark and major tourist attraction as much as a top hotel.
About 20 years on, one of the architects behind Emirates Palace has reflected on how they designed one of the world’s most exclusive hotels.
'Intriguing new project'
Jeremy Heyes, of the global architectural firm Wimberly, Allison, Tong and Goo (WATG), remembers a call coming through from Abu Dhabi about an intriguing new project that had to be ready by December 2005.
“Abu Dhabi had been chosen to host the next GCC summit,” Mr Heyes told The National. “It was incredibly significant and there was massive ambition to get it done as quickly as possible. Not only had we won [the design brief], there was a huge amount of protocol about how the place was organised.”
WATG sent a team to Abu Dhabi to oversee the project as it rose from the site at Ras Al Akhdar. At its peak, 80 design professionals from the firm worked on site, including interior designers, architects and engineers.
Mr Heyes, who is from the UK, said he spent 70 per cent of his time in Abu Dhabi during the project working under chief architect, John Elliott, who died in 2010. About 20,000 construction workers made it happen.
WATG’s design starts to work before a guest even gets into the main building. The hotel, in an elevated position, can be seen from kilometres away and the drive up to the entrance slowly takes people through gardens, past water fountains and under arches. “It is clearly meant to be inspiring,” said Mr Heyes. “The arrival sequence is meant to heighten expectations.”
From there guests are brought into the reception area and, then, ushered in under the spectacular 72.6 metre dome. “Floor to ceiling, it is one of the biggest internal spaces you get anywhere in the world. It is physically bigger than St Paul’s Cathedral. It is absolutely enormous, yet feels like a sanctuary,” said Mr Heyes. “It is beautiful and serene.”
Emirates Palace has 114 domes, 1,002 crystal chandeliers, more than 92,900 sq m of marble, 200 fountains, a triumphal arch and pristine white sand imported from Algeria for the beach.
The design speaks to a classical regional architectural language through this use of domes, columns, arches and light. It was important, Mr Heyes said, that it did not ape other styles or recreate structures such as a Mughal palace. One of the reasons the hotel feels serene, he said, is that modern laser-cutting techniques allowed them to use larger pieces of granite in places such as the floors than was previously possible.
“The reason why Emirates Palace is a calmer design is because we supersized it,” said Mr Heyes. “Look at the floor in the main space: that is jet-cut granite that is supersized. That is why I think technology influenced how we designed it.”
Inside, there is a blend of natural stone, antique gold and mother of pearl, while the stone of the hotel’s exterior reflects the deep red sand of Al Ain.
“As the sun sets, it hits the sands and the colour turns pink. That’s the inspiration. It is also practical and means if there is a dust storm we are not white, and don’t have to get the jet washer out.”
One of the most interesting facets to the project was the relative rarity of a palace being situated on a beachfront. “Beaches are about swimming and people in bathing suits yet a palace is about significant royal events,” said Mr Heyes. “It was an extraordinary choice of site and pretty visionary.”
Apart from the private chambers and rooms for the royals attending the 2005 GCC summit, it also boasts a massive theatre the size of any West End facility and a 2,500 capacity ballroom. There are secret doors and floors so guests do not see what is happening.
“You never see things being delivered to restaurants,” said Mr Heyes. “There is a two-lane carriageway that goes underneath the entire property to deliver guest services to conference facilities. All is done as if by magic.”
Emirates Palace has 394 rooms including 92 suites and 22 residential suites for heads of state. It boasts 7,000 doors, 128 kitchens, a marina, four helipads and the interior is decorated with 26,247 metres of 22-carat gold leaf (it even has its own in-house gold leaf specialist). Outside are verdant gardens with 8,000 trees that have attracted more than 150 species of birds, while staff harvest 20 tonnes of dates from its palms every year. Emirates Palace was built on 1,000,000 square metres of reclaimed land — equalling half the area of Monaco, the hotel says.
More than 15 years after it opened, the hotel is now looking to the future. Mandarin Oriental took over as operators in 2020 and a new era began.
Mr Heyes worked on other landmark projects such as the refurbishment of Claridge’s Hotel in London but Emirates Palace remains a highlight of his career.
“We used to stay at the Hilton and walk across to the site and see this beautiful palace coming up out of the ground,” he said, of the early design phases.
“It was quite clearly a career-defining moment for me. Even today, when I come up to that main drive and get out of the car, I think, 'Wow!' I’m very proud of it.”
A version of this article was first published on August 14, 2022
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
PULITZER PRIZE 2020 WINNERS
JOURNALISM
Public Service
Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with ProPublica
Breaking News Reporting
Staff of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
Investigative Reporting
Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times
Explanatory Reporting
Staff of The Washington Post
Local Reporting
Staff of The Baltimore Sun
National Reporting
T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi of ProPublica
and
Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times
International Reporting
Staff of The New York Times
Feature Writing
Ben Taub of The New Yorker
Commentary
Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times
Criticism
Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times
Editorial Writing
Jeffery Gerritt of the Palestine (Tx.) Herald-Press
Editorial Cartooning
Barry Blitt, contributor, The New Yorker
Breaking News Photography
Photography Staff of Reuters
Feature Photography
Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin of the Associated Press
Audio Reporting
Staff of This American Life with Molly O’Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News for “The Out Crowd”
LETTERS AND DRAMA
Fiction
"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)
Drama
"A Strange Loop" by Michael R. Jackson
History
"Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" by W. Caleb McDaniel (Oxford University Press)
Biography
"Sontag: Her Life and Work" by Benjamin Moser (Ecco/HarperCollins)
Poetry
"The Tradition" by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
General Nonfiction
"The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care" by Anne Boyer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
and
"The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America" by Greg Grandin (Metropolitan Books)
Music
"The Central Park Five" by Anthony Davis, premiered by Long Beach Opera on June 15, 2019
Special Citation
Ida B. Wells
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
MAIN CARD
Bantamweight 56.4kg
Abrorbek Madiminbekov v Mehdi El Jamari
Super heavyweight 94 kg
Adnan Mohammad v Mohammed Ajaraam
Lightweight 60kg
Zakaria Eljamari v Faridoon Alik Zai
Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Mahmood Amin v Taha Marrouni
Light welterweight 64.5kg
Siyovush Gulmamadov v Nouredine Samir
Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Ilyass Habibali v Haroun Baka
How to turn your property into a holiday home
- Ensure decoration and styling – and portal photography – quality is high to achieve maximum rates.
- Research equivalent Airbnb homes in your location to ensure competitiveness.
- Post on all relevant platforms to reach the widest audience; whether you let personally or via an agency know your potential guest profile – aiming for the wrong demographic may leave your property empty.
- Factor in costs when working out if holiday letting is beneficial. The annual DCTM fee runs from Dh370 for a one-bedroom flat to Dh1,200. Tourism tax is Dh10-15 per bedroom, per night.
- Check your management company has a physical office, a valid DTCM licence and is licencing your property and paying tourism taxes. For transparency, regularly view your booking calendar.
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
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.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
