Managing the paradox of appealing
aesthetics and stringent hygiene
Mushrif Mall which was previously known as the Central fish meat and
vegetable market in Abu Dhabi is a state of the art facility that spans
45,000m2 and includes a three storey mall along with 3,500 parking
bays. The mall is equipped with panoramic elevators, travellators,
escalators and passenger lifts and over 200 shops coupled with a
food court and large hypermarket, which caters for an estimated 2,000
customers at a time.
The total built up space is in excess of 1,8’million ft2 and is compliant
with the requirements of stringent global leading quality, health, safety,
environmental, hygiene and water systems such as ISO14001, ISO9001,
OHSAS18001 and HACCP.
The public and service areas are completely segregated and the market
is to be absolutely odour free and hygienic, while ensuring a pleasant
shopping experience for the customer. We value engineered the footing
system from a piling to a strip footing and raft system, to support more
effective air circulation and therefore reduce energy costs for years to
come.
Given the size of each 45,000m2 floor, the floor construction cycles
can be so long as to render the project uneconomical. To reduce the
length of each cycle for the construction of each floor, we supplemented
concrete with other materials such as precast hollow core slabs. We also
divided the structure into 12 independent units using 5cm expansion
joints to enable compartmentalisation as we ascended floor by floor.
We also utilised a fast and productive framework system for vertical
members.
The targeted duration of the project was 24 months and this posed a
challenge for the installation of two domes that are at a height of 40
metres and collectively span an area of around 4,000m2. The first
dome has a diameter of an 80 metres and the second has a diameter of
approximately 70m. To meet this challenge, we developed a temporary
tower support structure of reinforced concrete to support the structures
around the void.
Client: Line Investments, EMKE Group
Consultant: Architectural Consulting Group (ACG)