Hai d3 is a mixed-use community within Dubai Design District, the hub for emerging local creative talent in the UAE.

The project is a contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional Arabic neighbourhood, while capturing the expansion and contraction of streets (hayy) in the historic Arabic city. The design is punctuated by the sahat: vibrant, public “plazas” for neighbourhood interaction, activity, and gathering.

These landscaped, “urban” plaza spaces were designed in parallel with the physical architecture, performing as spatial extensions of the building interiors.

By using full-height windows and strategic material transparencies, the architecture establishes inside-outside connections to the landscape greenery, frames views of the Dubai skyline, and enhances productivity within naturally-lit spaces.

Collectively, the project was composed as a modular system of 75, 40-foot shipping containers, in six different stacking arrangements.

Given that Dubai is a port city with a changing urban fabric, the shipping containers are a logical material expression of the city and its context.