Dubai Opera House, Opera house in Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai Opera is a 1,901-seat performing arts centre in The Opera District, Downtown Dubai, designed by Janus Rostock of Atkins to resemble a dhow: the bow holds the main stage, orchestra and seating, while the elongated hull contains waiting areas, taxi drop-off and parking. Its leaning glass curtain wall is capped by a solid light-grey band, and the auditorium stacks curved balcony tiers with warm wood-toned edges above rows of red seats.
Plans for Dubai Opera were announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in March 2012, and Emaar Properties built it with Consolidated Contractors Company as main contractor. It opened on 31 August 2016 with a performance by Plácido Domingo; the first season brought Bizet's The Pearl Fishers and tenor José Carreras. An earlier Zaha Hadid design for an opera house on an island in Dubai Creek, announced in 2008, was shelved during the property crash.
Dubai Opera's interior uses wood, glass, pearl and semi-precious stones across its ceilings and walls. The first Emirati singer to perform there was Hussain Al Jassmi, on 10 October 2016, and Les Misérables ran for three weeks soon after. In 2017 the venue hosted the first BBC Proms Dubai, only the second time the series had staged events abroad in 112 years.
Dubai Opera sits in The Opera District facing Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Fountain, with a 2,760-square-metre promenade shaped like a dhow in front of the building. The elongated hull holds waiting areas, a taxi drop-off and pick-up rank, and parking; free and paid parking, the latter called Green Parking, serve visitors. A rooftop restaurant looks toward Burj Khalifa.
Dubai Opera's auditorium holds 1,901 to 2,000 seats, and hydraulic lifts plus seating wagons move 900 of them into garages beneath the theatre. The 1,800 m² flat floor that results can host weddings, gala dinners, fashion shows or exhibitions, so the hall changes function between consecutive bookings.
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