Mall of the Emirates

Mall of the Emirates

مول الإمارات
Location	Dubai,  United Arab Emirates
Coordinates	25°7′5″N 55°12′2″E / 25.11806°N 55.20056°E / 25.11806; 55.20056Coordinates: 25°7′5″N 55°12′2″E / 25.11806°N 55.20056°E / 25.11806; 55.20056
Opening date	September 2005
Owner	Majid Al Futtaim (MAF Holding)
No. of stores and services	700+
No. of anchor tenants	11
Total retail floor area	2,400,000 square feet (220,000 m2)
No. of floors	4
Parking	7000+
Public transit access	Mall of the Emirates Metro Station   Red Line Bus routes: 84, 93, F29, F30, F33
Website	Mall of the Emirates Website

Mall of the Emirates is a shopping mall which was opened in November 2005 and it developed & owned by Majid al-Futtaim Properties and located in Dubai at interchange four on Sheikh Zayed Road. The multi-level shopping center currently features more than 560 international brands, more than 700 stores, 11 anchor stores with a total gross leasable area (GLA) of 234,479 sqm including department stores, fashion, lifestyle, sports, electronics and home furnishing outlets.
The family leisure includes Ski Dubai - the Middle East’s first indoor ski resort and snow park, DUCTAC- the 500-seat capacity Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre and more than 90 international dining and cafes.^[1][2]
On November 2005, Mall of the Emirates was awarded the title of The World's Leading New Shopping Mall at the World Travel Awards in London.^[3]

Construction and History

The Project was launched in October 2003 with an estimate of AED 800 million (US $218 million) was scheduled to be completed in September 2005.^[4] The architecture in the three-storey mall complex combines both Arabic and Mediterranean elements, with each level connected to a car park.^[5] The Mall of the Emirates was designed by the American architectural firm, F+A Architects. The main building contract was handled by Khansaheb while Ski Dubai contract was given to Pomagalski. The chair lifts in the snow park and the structural steel works were handled by Emirates Building System and the piling by Bauer. The Mall opened for business on September 28, 2005 with an official inauguration in November. ^[6][7][8][9]

Milestones

• September 2005 - Mall of the Emirates opened^[10]
• November 2005 - Opening of Ski Dubai, the Middle East’s indoor ski resort and snow park^[11]
• April 2006 - Kempinski opens hotel in Dubai at Mall of the Emirates^[12]
• September 2008 - Mall of the Emirates announced expansion to increase facilities for shopping, dining and parking^[13]
• September 2009 - Metro link to the mall from the Red Line of the Dubai Metro was completed^[14]
• August 2010 - Launch of Fashion Dome^[15]
• 2012 - Mall of the Emirates ranked the 7th most productive shopping centre in the world, earning USD 1,423 per square foot per annum, according to research by the international Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC), as publishes in Shopping Centre ^[16]
• June 2013 - Mall of the Emirates announced Evolution 2015, a multi-stage AED 1 billion redevelopment project^[17]

Shopping

The range of shops at the Mall of the Emirates include anchor stores like the Carrefour hypermarket, Centrepoint, Debenhams, Harvey Nichols, Home Centre, Jashanmal and Marks & Spencer. There are outlets for books, stationery, toys, gift, fashion, art, accessories, electronics, jewellery, watches, furniture, cosmetics, perfumes and financial services within the Mall of the Emirates^[18][19][20]

Entertainment

Family leisure offerings inside the mall include: Magic Planet family entertainment area: a 14-screen VOX Cinemas, Ski Dubai, the Middle East’s indoor ski resort and snow park, and the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre (DUCTAC).^[21]

Ski Dubai

Ski slope in Ski Dubai

Ski Dubai is a large indoor skiing facility and ski resort at Mall of the Emirates on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, with snowboarding, ski lessons, children's play area, and hot chocolate at the Avalanche Cafe halfway up the chairlift. In November 2005 Dubai, the city opened its first indoor ski slope with genuine artificial snow. Ski resort measures 22,500 square meters covered with real snow all year round and houses the world’s largest indoor snow park at 3000 square meters. Ski Dubai has maintained temperature of -2° to -4° and has five different slopes of varying difficulty and lengthy with longest run of 400 meters. The indoor resort features an 85-meter-high indoor mountain with 5 slopes of varying steepness and difficulty, including a 400-metre-long run, the world's first indoor black run, and various features (boxes, rails, kickers) that are changed on a regular basis. A quad lift and a tow lift carry skiers and snowboarders up the mountain. Adjoining the slopes is a 3,000-square-metre Snow Park play area comprising sled and toboggan runs, an icy body slide, climbing towers, giant snowballs and an ice cave. It offers a breathtaking mountain-themed snow setting to enjoy a range of snow-centered activities including skiing, snowboarding, tobogganing or simply enjoying the sub-zero temperatures, away from the scorching heat of the desert. With a mountain resort theme, it is a home for 20 snow penguins and offers ‘Peng-friend’ encounter to guests. Ski Dubai is operated by Majid Al Futtaim Leisure & Entertainment, one of the subsidiaries of Majid Al Futtaim Ventures.^[22][23]

DUCTAC

DUCTAC(Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre ) is a modern, non-profit, cross-community creative centre in the Gulf that opened in November 2006, under the patronage of HRH princess Haya Bint Al Hussein.DUCTAC is spread over 7,424 square metres on the second floor of the Mall of the Emirates.The two-level Theatre has seating capacity for 530 seat studio theatre and rehearsal spaces, while the Arts Centre houses large and small art galleries, 16 general and specialised classrooms, studios for activities such as painting, pottery, sculpture and photography, a music school with sound proofed rooms, a lending library and a high specification visual arts gallery. ^[24][25][26]

Vox Cinemas

VOX Cinemas provides customer-focused cinema experience with the high-resolution 4K digital protection. VOX at Mall of the Emirates has a 14-screen VOX multiplex cinema including 2 VOX Gold screens, totalling 6038 square meters. VOX Cinemas is owned and operated by Majid Al Futtaim Cinemas, which is the cinema arm of the wider Majid Al Futtaim Ventures group of businesses.^[27]

Magic Planet

Magic Planet is an indoor family entertainment centre in Dubai. It has two entertainment zones, for children and young adults. It has a 12 Lane Cosmic 10 Pin bowling with ‘Glow in the Dark’ bowling balls and pins, 5 pool and billiard tables and 180 Amusement machines, and other attractions like Carousel, Jumping Star, Soft play and Bumper cars. Magic Planet offers unique attractions, such as:

• RoboCoaster: a two person thrill ride unique to the Middle East
• Realistic motion platform Racing Simulators
• 4D theatre
• XD Dark Ride, 7D adventure that comes equipped with 3D movie graphics and 4D effects like motion, wind, and light-transporting players directly into a 3D movie^[28]

Dining

• Restaurants & cafes including 8 restaurants in the Fashion Dome
• 2 International food courts
• Restaurants including St. Maxim’s, Salmontini, Apres and Sezzam in an area called ‘The West End’
• UAE’S African-themed diner Tribes at the Fashion Dome
• Häagen Dazs cafe
• The American restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory, in the UAE
• Al Halabi- Lebanese restaurant
• P.F Chang’s- The American Chinese restaurant

^[29][30]

Expansion

On 10 September 2013, Mall of the Emirates announced a multi-stage redevelopment project worth an estimated AED 1 billion (US $274 million), which is called as Evolution 2015. Phase one of the project which will increase 5,000 sqm area more is already completed but expected to open in mid-2015 includes new shopping, dining and entertainment concepts. However, due to the limitations of its location, the mall will be expanded upwards by constructing a second floor on top of the Carrefour area.^[31][32]

On 25 August 2014, Mall of the Emirates announced phase two of its strategic redevelopment project, Evolution 2015 which is now currently underway. In this stage, the mall will be expanded by gross leasable area of 25,000 meter sq. This project includes an additional of 1300 new spaces for car parking, 12 new restaurants, new prayer rooms for both, men and women and the relocation of the current VOX Cinemas which will now have 24 screens.^[33]

Gallery

• 

  Ski Dubai seen from the Sheikh Zayed Road

• 

  Looking into Ski Dubai from inside the mall

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mall of the Emirates.

• Mall of the Emirates - Official Website