Downtown Design Cafe
Location: D3, Dubai, UAE
Type: F&B
Scope: Interior Design
Year: 2022
Aswad has transformed the café space at Downtown Design into a social biodome, where the visitors of the fair had an engaging experience that conveys a strong message about sustainability and its connection to people.
The main focus of the design concept was to reduce construction material wastage to a minimum by using materials from reusable, repurposed, and recyclable sources.
All the joinery elements by Polaris were made from untreated row MDF boards. The same boards were reused by the joinery in other projects after the event.
The structure of the counter by Baraquda was made from scrap MDF boards in different finishes that were leftover from older projects in the joinery.
The cladding of the counter is from Neolith, which is made with raw materials with zero emissions and the slabs are comprised of recycled raw materials.
The shelves are manufactured by CSI from reusable metal bars from old construction sites, and they are returned to the supplier to be repurposed in other projects.
The fresh basils displayed on the shelves were borrowed and then returned to Leaves and More at The Sustainable City. The herbs are grown by the residents in the biodomes and the profits from selling those herbs go back to the community.
The rest of the plants were borrowed and then returned to Warsan Nursery.
The signboards and outdoor partition are from repurposed Coffee sacks from Boon Coffee Roastery, those bags are biodegradable, they are sent after the event to the farmers to use as a separation material between the soil and the plants.
The loose furniture from Grass It Up is 100% recyclable.
Special thank you to our partners:
The Lighthouse: Cafe Operator
Polaris: Joinery
CSI: Metalworks
I2D: Technical works
Baraquda: Counter
Neolith: Counter cladding
Grass It Up: Loose furniture
Leaves and More: Fresh basils
Boon Coffee: Signboards & outdoor Partitions
Traxon: Outdoor lighting
