Gulf Construction Online - Mall aims to be community centre

Al Ain Mall

The mall has a structural steel frame combined with reinforced concrete.

Mall aims to be community centre

A new mall has opened in Al Ain, boasting one of the largest skylights in the UAE. It promises to offer an extensive choice in shopping and a diversity in entertainment facilities.

01 November 2001

AL Ain Mall, a landmark shopping centre that recently opened its doors, aims to become the social and community centre in the heart of the Al Ain city in the UAE emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Owned and managed by Abu Dhabi-based Al Hamed Enterprises, the 100,000 sq m three-level mall has a distinctive modern architectural design. Its expansive elegant facade is finished in pastel shades and it incorporates a variety of architectural features to enhance its aesthetic appeal.

Located in the Al Kuwaitat district, the mall is easily accessible from all parts of the city, says Sherif Wali who heads the in-house project management team.

Construction work on the project started in March 2000 and was completed in August, says Hasan Qasem, resident engineer with Khatib & Alami, consultant on the project.

The main entrance on the ground floor opens on a circular-shaped lobby area, giving way to a central atrium. This area, overlooked by two panoramic lifts, is surmounted by one of the largest skylights in the UAE measuring 42 m in diameter. The skylight forms the focal feature of the mall with most of the shops and facilities grouped around it.

A second entrance opens on to a fountain traversed by travelators. Another entrance to the cinemas is at the eastern side and is accessed by escalators.

The ground floor has an ice-skating rink, 19 shops overlooking the roads and offers covered parking facilities for 600 cars. This is complemented by outdoor parking for 400 vehicles. The ground floor also has service rooms, workshops, stores and substations. Leasable area on the ground floor is 4,201 sq m.

The first floor accommodates retail outlets with a net leasable area of around 22,206 sq m that can be flexibly divided into a variety of sizes to fit various requirements. Wide corridors provide access to all retail areas.

The second floor, with a net leasable area of around 18,851 sq m, has a 3,700 sq m entertainment centre with party rooms and a 12-lane bowling alley. It also has four cinemas with a total seating capacity for 1,000. The mall also has a foodcourt with nine outlets and a large seating area for 400 diners, coffee shops and restaurants and an entertainment arcade with various activities and themes for both children and adults. The second floor also houses The Souk which includes shops with specialty products such as gold, silver, antiques and oriental items.

Several top-of-the-range retail and banking outlets and entertainment facilities have opened in the mall including Spinney's, Nissan, Paris Gallery, Grand Stores, Al Ain Mall Grand Cineplex, Salam Studios, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Mothercare, Next, Liz Clairborne, Milano, Evans, Splash, Life Style, Shoe Mart, Baby Shop, Home Center, Al Mandoos, Grand Stores, Action Zone, La Marquies, Cafe du Roi and Star Bucks Coffee.

The mall is serviced by two panoramic lifts of 2,000 kg capacity each, seven freight lifts of 2,000 kg capacity each, four escalators and two travelators all manufactured by Thyssen of Germany.

The building has a structural steel frame combined with reinforced concrete.

Inside the mall, the floors sport beautiful patterned Graniti ceramic tiles, while those of the shops have a smooth concrete screed finish. All the walls are painted while decorative acoustic panels and/or gypsum boards have been installed for the ceilings.

The mall has been illuminated to the latest international recommendations. An emergency lighting system has been provided to allow safe evacuation of the building. The external areas and roads around the mall have been lit so as to draw attention to the entrances.

Computer-controlled rainbow floodlights have been mounted at the ground and second levels to illuminate the mall's facade.

The mall is central air-conditioned by a chilled water system. It is equipped with power generators to provide uninterrupted supply to the essential services during power failure. MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) services include: building management system (BMS) and CCTV (closed circuit television) system with cameras mounted at the entrances, external doors, entry and exit positions of the car-park, lift lobbies and mall galleries.

The building is protected by a fire detection system with full sprinkler installations and fire hose reels. A public address system is provided in the shopping centre with loudspeakers located throughout the mall including the elevators.

"All the construction materials and finishes were of high-quality," says Qasem. "The only requirement set for the mall was to meet Khatib & Alami standards and to implement safety measures," he adds.