Design Director of Atkins, Janus Rostock, takes Downtown Design through the story and challenges behind designing the city's Opera House.

How did you arrive at the design for the Dubai Opera House?

JR: The brief from our client, Emaar, was for a multi-functional theatre which will become the focal point of the new Opera District within Downtown Dubai. The environment already has an established architectural language which Dubai Opera needed to complement, but it also needed to stand out. We looked into Dubai's heritage and traditions for inspiration – we wanted the building to celebrate the city's past, as well as supporting its future.  

The traditional Arabic dhow played a significant role in opening avenues and bringing prosperity to Dubai. Through trade these traditional sailing vessels played their part in introducing new cultures and ideas; helping Dubai transform into the multi-cultural, diverse and welcoming city that it is today.

This theme resonated strongly with our client and resulted in a building which is very much embedded in the place, culture and history of Dubai.

What was the most challenging aspect of designing the building?

JR: The multi-functional aspect of the building has resulted in the Dubai Opera being the most technically complex and state-of-the-art performance venue in the world. The auditorium can transform internally into different modes for opera, theatre and concerts, or in flat flood mode it could host anything from banquets to product launches.

This is achieved through a high number of moving floors, walls and ceilings that allow the auditorium seating to seamlessly change configuration, or to disappear altogether, as well as different stage configurations. Each of these formats affects things like acoustics and air flow, so we had to work extremely closely with our engineers to devise lots of new and innovative solutions.

How is designing for a multi-use performing arts and events center different from designing for other spaces?

JR: Fundamentally, we’re always focused on the needs of people and their communities, designing at eye-level and delivering projects which add to their environment. There were technical challenges which were very specific to Dubai Opera, such as its multifunctional aspects, and this involved working very closely with our engineering teams. And clearly for any venue of this kind, particular attention needs to be paid to acoustics to ensure the sound quality is outstanding.

On a general note it was important for us to understand how people would respond to the space. For a performing arts venue, the flow of people is very concentrated around events so we needed to ensure good quality space; in and around the building while keeping in mind the overall experience.

If you could re-design one building in the UAE which one would it be?

JR: Based on the latest technology it would be interesting to redesign the iconic World Trade Center building in Dubai and to create a sustainable building in this location. It is the closest example we have of a historic skyscraper in Dubai.

Lastly, what would your dream project be?

I would have loved to design the UAE pavilion at Expo 2020

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