Bait Al Wakeel, Museum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Bait Al Wakeel is a museum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, set right at the abra landing on the Deira side of Dubai Creek. The building shows early 20th-century architecture with a flat roof, crenellated parapet, light brown stone lower facade, arched openings, and a red-and-white awning above a red umbrella at ground level.

The building was completed in 1934 as the first office building in Dubai, ordered by the late Sheikh Rashid. Later it was used by Gray Mackenzie as a shipping office, and in 1995 the structure was fully renovated to house a museum.

Inside, the displays focus on maritime work and fishing traditions once central to daily life along the creek. A restaurant on the lower floor serves seafood with Arabic and Emirati dishes, so the same rooms now continue the old connection between the house, the water, and local food.

The building stands on the Deira bank of Dubai Creek at the abra landing, where small boats cross to Bur Dubai. The museum and the seafood restaurant share the same address, so a visit can be timed around a meal. The roof deck is reached by a steep staircase, with a metal ladder leaning against the wall beside it.

Gray Mackenzie took over the building after its construction to house its shipping office, and a local story holds that the company manager and his family lived for a long period in what was then the largest living space in the city. On the roof deck, two rows of white air-conditioning units face outward behind the low crenellated wall, a detail of how the 1934 structure was adapted for later use.