At the heart of the AED 377 million project at City Centre Deira is Food Central, a new gastronomic destination that offers a unique take on mall dining with multiple live cooking stations inspired by the local and expat communities.
Jose Quelhas, who led the project for Broadway Malyan, said the practice worked closely with City Centre Deira owners MAF to help revitalise the 25-year-old mall and create a new experiential offer that would differentiate it from its competitors.
He said: “Retail is incredibly competitive and fast-moving and it was important for City Centre Deira to embrace a new future that responded to evolving customer expectations and reinforced its pioneering status as one of the first major shopping destinations in the region.
“Food Central is a brand-new food hall concept that serves up a variety of interactive dining experiences that immerse customers in the theatre of food from cuisines from all around the world.
“The space is designed to offer shoppers and diners an imaginative and welcoming space to not just eat but to experience great food, meet, work and socialise in an environment bursting with interactive moments, colour and greenery.
“With a variety of different environments and seating options, visitors can dine indoors surrounded by neon signs and fresh herb walls or outdoors on one of the new terraces with stunning views overlooking the golf course and uninterrupted views of the iconic Burj Khalifa and Dubai skyline.”
Part of Broadway Malyan’s commission was also to examine opportunities that could activate the space above the food hall as well as filling the empty space on the upper level that had previously been a Debenhams department store.
This led to the introduction of a unique conceptual art installation by the Austria-based artist Christoph from the Numen/For Use collective of industrial designers whose impressive work has adorned some of the most beautiful spaces in the world.
Jose added: “As designers we were able to engage Christoph on an artistic level, understanding and respecting his creative principles and provide him with the necessary creative freedom to deliver the best possible outcome while ensuring the project was technically possible within the space, commercially viable and successful from a retail perspective.
“The result is a visually stunning interactive installation that has created a fantastic new layer of interest at City Centre Deira and positioned the mall again at the forefront of the region’s retail sector.”
