London firm Leslie Jones Architecture has received a commission from Dubai Airports for Al Maktoum International Airport at the yet unbuilt Dubai World Centre. The latest firm to join development on the 140-square-kilometer site, it is hoped that Leslie Jones will deliver a mixed-use transit hub to cater for burgeoning local tourism and aviation industries.
Learn more about the project after the break.
Dubai International Airport (DXB) is the world's busiest aviation interchange for international traffic, and received 70.4 million passengers in 2014 alone. This annual figure is expected to rise to 200 million in conjunction with the USD$30 billion expansion of Dubai World Centre, currently underway.
Eugene Barry of EVP Commercial Group at Dubai Airports said, “Our vision for the future airport is to create a travel environment which is customer-focused and space-efficient, proactively supporting non-aeronautical commercial opportunities though successful partnerships and concepts appropriate to a development of this magnitude. Leslie Jones has been appointed to bring their expertise in specialist mixed-use schemes to our newest development project.”
With over 25 years of airport design experience including projects such as Heathrow Terminal 5 and Dubai International's Concourse A, it seems likely that the firm will rise to such expectations. The design team will be helmed by Simon Scott, Head of International Business at Leslie Jones Architecture.
“Leslie Jones’ appointment reflects the firms’ technical skill and experience in delivering leading mixed-use design solutions for specialist global projects," Scott said, "A profound understanding of operators’ challenges, within an aviation context, is critical when designing such an environment. Our design strategy will address this by supporting the creation of an integrated commercial environment that will elevate consumer engagement and optimise space intelligently.”