Project overview
This project is the Van Cleef & Arpels boutique at The Dubai Mall in Dubai. Wrenze Steel carried out the steel structural design, working for Polverini Middle East as client and consultant.
The photos show a dark shopfront with a large lattice screen above the entrance and the brand name across it. Below the screen are the display windows and doors, finished in pale stone and lit from within.
Our scope
Our scope was steel structural design. In a luxury boutique, the steel is almost never on show. It sits behind the finishes, carrying screens, signage, cladding and ceilings, and it has to fit inside the tight build-up the interior designer allows.
The design covered the steel frames, their members and connections, and their fixings to the mall structure, with drawings and calculations for review by the mall and the consultant.
We have worked with Polverini Middle East on other retail projects, including the facade steel for the Cartier boutique in Jeddah.
The structure
Retail work inside a mall has its own rules. The base building belongs to the mall, and every fixing into its slabs, beams or columns must be approved. The new steel has to work with what the base building can take and where it allows anchors to be placed.
A shopfront screen like the one in the photos is a large, flat element held at height. Its weight is carried by a hidden frame, and that frame must also stop the screen from moving when people lean on or knock against the shopfront below. Deflection limits are strict, because stone, glass and metal finishes do not tolerate much movement.
Space is always short. The steel must fit within the depth between the finished surface and the mall structure, while leaving room for lighting, cables and access. Compact sections and well-planned connections make this possible.
Fit-out work in a busy mall usually happens at night or behind hoardings, so steel that is light, quick to install and bolted rather than welded on site is preferred.
See our other retail and facade projects. Read about our structural steel design service, or request a quote.
