Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Designed by American Prize for Architecture laureates Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, together with GA Design, The Royal Atlantis opens this year and offers an iconic new presence for Dubai’s skyline through a stacked and stepped form that descends from either end to meet at a central sky bridge.

The Royal Atlantis in its concept stage won a 2018 American Architecture Award and a 2018 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Located on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah Island, the emirate’s premier resort destination, the project includes a resort and residential units that maximize exposure to the Gulf, while the stepped form offers terraces with private pools and shaded gardens.

The stepped form naturally separates the residential and hotel program, while still providing a sense of community through the shared views.

These private oases heighten guest comfort and enjoyment, amplify the shading, and direct the prevailing breezes over the water and vegetation surrounding the resort.

The terraces step down towards one another and are linked by a sky-bridge, the structure that gives the Royal Atlantis its iconic silhouette.

Framing a grand gateway between the two buildings, the sky bridge is punctuated by pools, lounges, cabanas and other amenities creating a lush oasis.

The breezeways frame conference space, resort amenities, and an expansive open lobby at the heart of the complex.

Totaling 230 units, the residents will have access to private beaches, a sky pool, a fitness center, and resort offerings as well.

Project: The Royal Atlantis
Architects: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF)
Architects of Record: GA Design
Interior Architects: SM Design
Client: Kerzner International