Dubai-based design studio Roar has completed the design of the new ADQ Innovation Centre in Abu Dhabi. Located in the UAE capital’s Etihad Airways Centre, the clean and open space was envisioned as an incubator and accelerator in response to the government’s drive to promote entrepreneurship in the region.
“The idea was for the new ADQ space to be welcoming to all; to bustle with informal conversation and creative energy,” says Roar founder and creative director Pallavi Dean. “We wanted to create a design that would help stimulate the types of organic conversations that happen in a break-out area or while you’re grabbing a cup of coffee. We’ve used this idea of connection as a driving force throughout the scheme and we’ve strived to apply it through different design elements.”
Floor-to-ceiling windows flood the interior with natural light, further expanding a sense of openness apt for new connections and discourse. In addition to a coffee bar, the Innovation Centre comprises a series of informal enclaves—or “neighborhoods”—populated with geometric modern seating and furnishings. “We wanted the overall scheme to feel full of energy so we’ve included dynamic forms throughout which subtly bring a vigor and drama to the space,” Dean adds. A vast amphitheater functions as the centerpiece of the concept beneath exposed ceilings and alongside large digital screens.
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