Green Shopping

Located on Emirates Road and Tripoli street along Dubai’s Eastern growth corridor – Mirdif City Centre will be a shopping mall with a difference. A green difference.

“The centre will adopt Leed standards; a rating system developed in the US and used by the Emirates Green Building council as the methodology for measuring sustainability in the UAE,” says Richard Reid, senior vice-president of MAF Developments.

The centre is being developed by Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls, and it will be built on a two-level retail space spread over a gross leasable area of 196,000m2 and a three-level car park with capacity for 7000 cars. The mall will have more than 430 retail outlets with provision for eight anchor stores, including Carrefour.
“There are 6500 workers involved in the construction of Mirdif City Centre. Construction work on the project began on August, 15, 2007, and is on target for a late 2009 opening,” says Reid.

The design of Mirdif City Centre uses a simple, rectangular, racetrack layout, with nodes at its intersections, to act as areas for the mall’s anchor stores. One particular main feature is a central street, which bisects the mall and forms a series of themed, interconnecting rooms that will be covered with roof structures spanning up to 20m in height. This public space is designed to be an active urban zone that progresses from the landscaped entrance right through the heart of the scheme.

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Landscaping and nature form key elements within this new development. The garden area outside the mall’s main entrance will be an ideal place to spend time during the winter months and the mall’s interior will incorporate water features and tall palms.

“This outdoor feature seamlessly integrates with the indoor landscaping through the use of solar reflective glass, which helps to utilise the maximum amount of natural light during the day, while at the same time protecting the building from becoming overheated,” says Reid.

The design of the building is being carried out by two consultants – international design architects RTKL and local architect Holfords. 

“With the environmental concerns that we are faced with, adopting standards such as Leed is a responsible and prudent decision that businesses are aiming for. Mirdif City Centre is our first step in this direction and it will allow us to witness the benefits of eco-friendly construction techniques. We are among the first shopping centres in the region implementing such sustainable construction,” says Reid.

MAF adopted Leed as the sustainability measurement methodology, as it’s currently the most credible system known across the globe, and the most acknowledged in the region.
There are, however, other methodologies being introduced into the region such as “Estidama,” which has been developed by the Abu Dhabi government as their own rating system. It is similar to Leed but more adapted to the regional conditions.

“Leed will certainly be important to the group for all major developments in the medium term. In the long term, it may be that new building regulations will obviate the need for Leed or new methodologies may eclipse Leed and be deemed to be more appropriate, in the future,” says Reid.