BEEAH Group is the region’s foremost sustainability innovator, with vertical spanning sectors and a reputation for ground-breaking environmental technologies and smart city solutions. It originated as a Sharjah-based general populace partnership corporation focused on ecological and waste disposal when it was founded in 2007. BEEAH Group invests in a complete, full-circle strategy for the future, expanding into the domains of renewable power, green mobility, transportation, education, and technology, recognizing sustainability and technology as the cornerstones of a contemporary economy. The Bee’ah Headquarters opened on March 30 in a public ceremony headed by His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Superior Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, divulging one of the world’s most sustainable and smart buildings and setting a new benchmark for the office of the future.
Solar-powered, integrated with next-generation technology, and designed to achieve net-zero emissions by Zaha Hadid. The landmark Headquarters serves as the organization’s model for shaping tomorrow’s smart, sustainable cities as BEEAH pursues its aspirations to enhance sustainable impact.
The headquarters is a huge milestone for BEEAH, signalling its evolution from a firm formed to address environmental challenges within the emirate across the UAE to a worldwide holding group with operations in industries important to creating a sustainable future.
Design of the Bee’ah Headquarters
The headquarters of Bee’ah integrates a green design idea by displaying an open, flowing, and friendly approach. It has a 7,000m2 floor space and is made from a sequence of dunes that lead to two major dune-shaped buildings that fit in with the desert landscape.
The public and managerial components of the firm are housed in the first of the two dune-shaped buildings. In the second dune, the administrative part has been designed. An entry lobby, auditorium, visitors educational center and gallery, departmental and management offices, and a staff café are among the amenities available on the two dunes.
A central courtyard surrounded by two dunes at the Bee’ah headquarters features a 23-meter-long, 17-meter-wide, and 15.3-meter-high concrete dome roof that improves natural ventilation and allows sunlight into the building.
Materials and methods of construction
The construction of the headquarters was broken down into several components and levels to reduce complexity. It involves a set of prefabricated structural steel ribs that sped up the building process and allowed more accurate cost and schedule forecasting.
To limit solar absorption and maximize thermal emittance, the facility’s exterior cladding and roof were made of lightweight glass fiber reinforcement concrete (GRC). For the building, about 4,000 GRC plates weighing 100kg apiece were employed. The project’s passive and active design strategy emphasizes a zero-energy strategy by combining insulated glass panels, outside materials that reflect sunlight, and window placement that minimizes solar heat gain and provides natural cooling.
Inside, slab and glass cooling help to adjust the building’s temperature in response to outside conditions. A solar farm provides electricity to the structure, which is stored in Tesla battery packs.
Technologies used | Bee’ah Headquarters
AI-powered personal concierge services will be available in the building, allowing visitors and workers to make appointments, find meeting rooms, and do everyday tasks. During the summer, a solar photovoltaic plant will be erected to meet the increased power requirements. A Tesla battery storage system will supplement the system at night. Other low-carbon sources, such as the conversion of city and county trash into electricity, will be used to meet more power needs. More than 90% of the users in the production of the structure, including add and steel, are obtained and recycled. Greywater recycling, rainfall harvesting, and water-efficient smart planting are among the other friendly measures that have been included.
“The building is not only green and equipped, but it also provides an unrivalled atmosphere for employee comfort and productivity, ” Khaled Al Huraimel said, describing the structure as the workplace of the future. “It indicates that by implementing future-ready technologies, we may meet environmental goals while also improving quality of life.”
Contactless paths with secure biometric check-in, a virtual concierge, smart conference spaces, and a companion app to manage day-to-day duties are all part of the headquarters’ employee experience.
The smart meeting space’s lighting and temperature adjust automatically based on the number of people in the room and the time of day. The rooms come equipped with strong collaboration features for remote and hybrid work settings.
Aside from the technology integrations, the headquarters’ construction and finish are designed to be friendly, resulting in low energy use. The building’s curving façade was influenced by the nearby dunes and is oriented to take advantage of the Shamal breezes. The Headquarters generates a sense of oneness with the natural desert surroundings as it expands outwards.
