The id Design Awards 2018 shortlist: Public Space

These captivating public spaces were designed for people to gather, celebrate, learn and expand their cultural horizons. Whether it’s an optimal space for viewing fine art or the art of a couture gown, these designs create bridges for exploring new ideas and innovative ways of thinking about how we interact with space and one another.

Fashion Avenue Expansion 

Kinnersley Kent Design

The design philosophy behind Fashion Avenue was to create a luxury environment that high-end fashion brands would aspire to be in, and a world-class shopping destination to rival and surpass that of other major cities around the world. This stemmed from conversations about how high-end designer fashion brands approach the look and feel of their stores.

If high-level fashion brands are defined by impeccable service, attention to detail, luxurious materials and consistency across all touchpoints, then the new expansion had to encompass these values throughout to appeal to the global, luxury fashion customer.

Leila Heller Gallery

LS Design

Located in one of Dubai’s most distinguished art hubs, Alserkal Avenue, the gallery consists of two warehouses merged with one another and transformed into a fully functioning gallery space.

Wandering throughout the galleries, the visitors find themselves enveloped by the minimal design strategy LSD is known for and raw materials that works hand-in-hand throughout the gallery to offer a bright, airy space that can accommodate art installations of all shapes and sizes comfortably.

A welcoming entrance separating both galleries without visibly enclosing them. The raised plinth serves as a threshold between all three galleries and the small works reference and artist library. The spiral industrially raw staircase presents both a sculptural element and formal entrance to the upstairs private viewing gallery and staff offices.

Photo: Alex Jeffries Photography

The Constellation at the Founder’s Memorial

dpa Lighting Consultants

Situated within the landscape of the Founder’s Memorial, The Constellation consists of over one thousand three hundred geometric shapes suspended from more than one thousand tensioned cables.

In order to achieve three-dimensional rendition of the sculpture at night, seven hundred and fifty-three downlights and twelve hundred and three uplights were custom made to illuminate the sculpture from above and below. Each fixture is fitted with a 3.5w warm white LED and integral DMX control, which enables the exact tailoring of the lighting scheme to respond to the differing textures and forms of the individual and collective solids that create the artwork.

The Contemporary Area of Al Seef

10 Design

Stretching 1.8 km along the creek, Al Seef is located in the historic heart of Dubai adjacent to the Al Fahidi Cultural Historical Neighborhood.

The contemporary area of Al Seef, designed by 10 DESIGN, spans around 670m of the creek, covering GFA 85,000m².

The site has been developed in 2 phases: Phase 1 accommodates the retail, F+B, and marina spaces while Phase 4 accommodates hospitality and F+B spaces along with the car parking structures for both phases.

Al Seef is set to enrich Dubai’s vibrant tourism industry by complementing and also rejuvenating the bustling trading locale along Dubai Creek as a hospitality, leisure and retail destination that will appeal to residents and tourists alike.

View the complete list of this year’s shortlisted projects here.