OMA to design new retail concept in Kuwait
Rotterdam-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is designing The Exhibition Hall, a new department store and public event space concept, in Kuwait City.
The Exhibition Hall, comprising of 9,400 square metres over three floors, will showcase the creativity of the region alongside international fashion brands through a flexible curated retail space, featuring cultural programs, exhibitions and installations.
The Exhibition Hall aims to re-establish the historic Kuwaiti connection between culture and commerce to form a contemporary public forum for the city. The space would be designed to enable maximum infiltration of natural light.
A series of galleries - reminiscent of the long passages of the Souk - will be featured that can be customised by various brands to showcase products. Multi-functional partition walls with circular cut outs will accommodate transversal access and offer shifting views.
The project is developed with Kuwait’s 360° Mall management, Majed Al-Sabah and Giacomo Santucci, and overseen by OMA project architect Alessandro De Santis. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2014 and will be completed within the same year.
