DUBAI // Work on a 150-metre-tall frame that will symbolically divide new and old Dubai is to begin next month.
It is hoped Barwaz Dubai (the Dubai Frame) will become a popular tourist attraction with up to two million visitors a year.
Dubai Municipality expects the structure, which will be 93 metres wide and made from transparent material, to be finished by the second half of 2015.
“We have put the project out to tender and will be giving an assignment to the contractor according to our plan,” said Hussain Lootah, the director general of Dubai Municipality. “We are looking forward to a unique architectural landmark that matches the global status of Dubai.”
The frame will be near the Star Gate of Zabeel Park.
Its design was chosen from more than 1,000 entries to an international competition.
The walls, roof and floors will be made entirely from transparent material to give visitors the experience of walking through the sky, while the upper part will afford them unobstructed 360-degree vistas of the city.
A lift will carry visitors up one side of the building.
Visitors will be able to look through Barwaz Dubai from the outside to see Sheikh Zayed Road and new Dubai on one side, and the traditional areas of Karama, Umm Hurair and Bur Dubai on the other.
The ground floor will feature a gallery telling the story of the emirate.
“We expect it to be a bridge between the past and future of Dubai and may become a name attached to Dubai like Burj Khalifa and the Burj Al Arab,” said Mr Lootah.
vtodorova@thenational.ae
