When Mahdi Amjad, the founder, executive chairman and CEO of Omniyat, set up his property design, development and management company, Omniyat, in 2004, he knew nothing about Dubai’s ambitious plans to build a canal that would expand and connect the creek from one end of the city to the other. “I was looking at several opportunities, but nothing really captured my heart,” says Amjad. Armed with a plan to purchase just one plot somewhere in the city, a meeting with Dubai Properties revealed the city’s grand canal concept. Amjad would walk away from that meeting with not one, but four pieces of land, and a much clearer understanding of what he needs to do.
Celebrating the opening of the Dubai Water Canal, Amjad took PW for a boat tour to view Omniyat’s impressive waterside projects, such as The Binary, Bayswater, The Pad, The Opus and Langham Place. He also spoke about his friendship with Dame Zaha Hadid, and how he thinks the Dubai Water Canal has changed the city forever.
Tells us about your projects on the Dubai Canal.
We haven’t yet felt the immense impact that the development is going to have because it’s still so new; we’ll only be able see the results over the next five years.
Upon completion of the Marasi Business Bay Promenade area, there will be 12km of waterfront promenade, 10km of which is complete to date.
There will be three marinas along the canal in the Marasi Business Bay Promenade area. We are so lucky to have all three in front of our projects. There is one in front of The Binary, our head office, and Bayswater, the commercial tower. The second marina sits in the middle of the canal, stretching out in front of our luxury residential project, The Pad, which was put on hold because of the economic downturn and which we hope to finish by next year. The third is in front of Langham Place, a luxury hotel.
nHow do you distinguish your brand from others?
I believe in differentiation. Today it’s quite a challenge to create a distinction in Dubai, a city that already has the tallest, biggest and best. We had to look at our projects from a different vantage point, and ask ourselves, “What will capture people’s imagination?” The answer was to become a bespoke developer and create unique, premium buildings in the most phenomenal locations of Dubai. The Pad, for instance, sits at an angle of 6.5 degrees, while The Opus features an organic shape.
Tell us about your collaboration with high-profile architects.
I have travelled around the world and met some of the most important architects of our time. In 2005 I met the late Dame Zaha Hadid, Lord Norman Foster, Richard Roger, Rem Koolhaas and Santiago Calatrava and shared my vision with them, asking, “Will you accept my invitation to create something special?” Three said yes. Zaha Hadid was the first to accept my invite, which is why The Opus by Zaha Hadid is so dear to me.
What are the unique features of the Opus?
The Opus is the largest flagship project we’ve done, boasting 2 million sq ft of built-up area and costing Dh2 billion to build. It’s the only mixed-use Zaha Hadid tower in the region, featuring residential and commercial space, including a luxury hotel from a brand called ME by Melia. We’ll also have the world’s first fully furnished Zaha Hadid residence, decorated with furniture designed by her specifically for the building. I’m really looking forward to celebrating the completion of this very challenging project, hopefully by mid next year, with the hotel set to open around the start of 2018.
We collaborated with four global companies. The curve and façade in the middle of the building has over 4,000 pieces of bespoke glass pieces. Every piece fits like a Lego block, up to a precision of 2mm. The exterior lighting is going to be incredible too, with the whole building featuring integrated LED illumination so its curves glow by night.
We started construction in 2008, but stopped midway and picked up again in the latter half of 2013. One of the reasons for this pause was the fact that The Opus is Omniyat’s flagship project and we absolutely refused to compromise on quality when creating a masterpiece. As the building was so complicated to design and create, we’ve continuously added to the project to meet challenges and ensure that it meets all quality criteria.
You also have a project on the Palm Jumeirah.
One Palm is scheduled for completion end of next year. It is over 105m in length — almost double the height of other buildings in the area. One Palm will have its own marina, private marine bay, jetty and beach access.
