Khalifa City Mall

The concept from the architects, Design International, focuses around the idea of a bamboo forest to create a garden in the city. This is already visible in the façade design of the mall, expressed in a series of vertical aluminium circular sections and perforated metal sheets, shaded in various tones of green and brown that recall the image of a forest. On the inside of the building the cafes, bars and restaurants are immersed in a green park under large geodetic skylights, providing ample daylight to the interior and providing an outdoor feel.

Grankraft fabricated and installed the façade for this project which included both metal and glass systems. The dimensions of the trapezoidal metal panels were approximately 10m x 2m, and the total length of the metal façade was about 100m. Following the mock-up approval, 160 individual panels with varying shapes have been produced for the permanent works. The main challenge during installation was the precise setting out of the substructure and brackets to receive the trapezoidal metal panels to achieve correct alignments.

The curtain wall used was a stick system, using both silicon and metal caps. The overall height of the glass façade was 8m high and it was made out of 2 rows of panels – 4m high by 1.5m wide.