The Opus building and its well-known ‘void’

Project Name: Opus

Country: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Designer: Zaha Hadid Architects

URL: https://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/opus/

Interplays of the solid and void, fluidity and orthogonality were captured in the newly-opened Opus
building through the eyes of Dubai’s meticulous cityscape.

Located in the Business Bay district of Dubai, the Opus building is an 84,345-sqm mixed-use retail and
commercial development developed by Omniyat Properties. Towering at 20 storeys, this mixed-use
building shelters various commercial spaces, offices, serviced residences, cafes, restaurants, and a
rooftop bar, with a majority of its floor area dedicated to ME Dubai luxury hotel ran by Melia Hotels.

As described by the design team of Zaha Hadid Architects, the Opus building was designed as two
separate towers which eventually unites into a singularity – warping itself into a streamlined cube
through a four-storey atrium and a 71-meter high bridge. Just as how its sinuous walls form an eye-
catching core, its negative space characterized by a free-forming void plays an equally vital role in the
resulting form.

Opus building is considered to be the studio’s first project in Dubai with both its architecture and
interiors designed by the late Zaha Hadid herself. Further creating a cohesive architectural language for
the entire project is the installation of furniture likewise designed by Zaha Hadid Design.

By reinventing the balance between the void and solid, transparent and opaque, and the interior and
exterior, Omniyat’s vision of treating each project as a unique work of art by itself is beautifully
projected into the physical and spatial attributes of the Opus – expressing a sculptural sensibility that
embodies a symphonic harmony between contrasting elements.