ME Dubai, designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid, ill be the first property in the Middle East from luxury hotel brand ME by Meliá. The hotel will be inside the Hadid-designed Opus building, her first in the city of Dubai.
Despite its appearance, The Opus consists of two glass towers linked by a four-storey podium at ground level, and at a height of 71 metres by an asymmetric steel and glass bridge.
ME Dubai
Standing three storeys, 38 metres wide and weighing almost 1,000 tonnes, the bridge and the building’s eight-storey void are clad in 4,500 triple-glazed midnight blue panels.
But thanks to the undulating complexity of the design however, many of the panels are required to curve in two directions which means that every one is unique.
Made of glass from China and aluminium frames from Denmark, the largest panels weigh 800 kilograms each.
The Opus will have 56,000 square feet of office space, a rooftop bar, and a nightclub in its basement, 12 restaurants and ME Dubai, an oddity in the Dubai hospitality market in that it will be a five-star boutique hotel with only 93 guest rooms and 60 apartments.
ME Dubai
The lobby, café, lounges and reception will feature furniture either designed or selected by Hadid, all emulating her signature style. “With awe-inspiring originality, Hadid’s design reinvents the balance between solid and void, opaque and transparent, interior and exterior,” according to the hotel.
The hotel company has locations in Miami, Milan, London, Ibiza, Mallorca, Madrid and Cabo. It is set on bringing visitors a true cultural-experience, even employing a “dedicated Aura Manager” who knows the city front-to-back and uses their knowledge to make sure their services are truly bespoke.
