SPECIAL REPORT OUTDOOR DESIGN

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1 An ITP Business Publication March Vol. 13 Issue 3 Show (p)reviews DESIGN DAYS DUBAI MAISON & OBJET PARIS Survey DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL REPORT OUTDOOR DESIGN THE NEW FAIRMONT FUJAIRAH BEACH RESORT IS DESIGNED AS A GALLERY SPACE, FEATURING ARABIC SCULPTURES AND ARTWORK

2 INTERVIEW M AR INA MR DJEN- PE T ROVIC SPE A K S TO BEN CORRIG A N, CEO A ND FOUNDER OF BLUEH AUS GROUP, A BOUT HIS JOURNE Y F ROM BEING A N INT ERIOR DE SIGNER TO E S TA BLISHING A SUCCE SSF UL F IR M IN DUBA I, WHICH CELEBR AT E S IT S 15 -Y E A R A NNI VER SA RY NE X T MONT H Commercial Interior Design MARCH

1 Ben Corrigan. Photo: Lester Apuntar, ITP Media Group. 2 Chanel regional headquarters in Dubai Design District. 3 Tryano retail, Abu Dhabi, designed in collaboration with HMKM London.

Throughout the boom, the global and the recent oil price slump, Corri- three to 60 people, and is celebrating its 15th birthday in April. lished, Corrigan begins.

Group, an established architectural and interior design practice, he says he immediately enjoyed the can-do culture there was an opportunity to establish his own business.

3 1 Ben Corrigan. Photo: Lester Apuntar, ITP Media Group. 2 Chanel regional headquarters in Dubai Design District. 3 Tryano retail, Abu Dhabi, designed in collaboration with HMKM London. 4 Corrigan and his team. Photo: Lester Apuntar. While there is no one-size- - design business, Ben Cor- but also how to keep going. Throughout the boom, the global and the recent oil price slump, Corri- three to 60 people, and is celebrating its 15th birthday in April. lished, Corrigan begins. Born in Tehran and raised in Sin- - called Soundhaus. in Germany in the early 1900s, which recalls Corrigan. Group, an established architectural and interior design practice, he says he immediately enjoyed the can-do culture there was an opportunity to establish his own business. Corrigan breaks down the company s cases, challenging milestones. ing into new sectors or establishing challenges along the way as well. The 2 3 We also drive a no-nonsense culture; if it needs saying, say it. We encourage people to speak up regardless of rank or title but when I look back it was the best business coaching team to come in 4 24 MARCH 2017 Commercial Interior Design

best decisions I ever made. We still use them to this day.

Jeddah. Interior design remains our core business, particularly with our diversi- leisure and entertainment, he adds.

We live in a transient part of the world, so it is important to invest in your people and culture, while looking to encourage new and exciting talent, to ensure the people you have are happy and

4 best decisions I ever made. We still use them to this day. Bluehaus Group established an architectural division in 2014 and is currently delivering a number of projects, including residential buildings in Al Barsha, Dubai, a hotel in Dubai and a museum in Jeddah. Interior design remains our core business, particularly with our diversi- leisure and entertainment, he adds. Commenting on the challenges of managing the team, Corrigan considers himself to be a servant-leader. If our people are served and at their clients and partners, he explains. We live in a transient part of the world, so it is important to invest in your people and culture, while looking to encourage new and exciting talent, to ensure the people you have are happy and engaged to deliver their best work. We also drive a no-nonsense culture; if it needs saying, say it. We encourage people to speak up regardless of rank or title, challenge when necessary, show discipline around meetings or workshops and deliver on promises both externally and internally. In this fast-moving market, we don t have time BIDDING ON PROJECTS Providing an up-front design when pitching for projects is an on-going debate among the design industry. Corrigan comments: The same questions tend to do the rounds. Is it right that clients ask design consultants to exhaust time and cost into providing free design work in their a bid or pitch? Surely design is a process that should work in conjunction with the client to ensure the design and end-product aligns to their aspirations and requirements and not developed during a bid process merely to secure the project? And surely clients should choose their consultant based on much more tangible and robust factors, such as credibility, client references, visits to projects delivered, delivering projects in the market Furthermore, Corrigan believes that many clients or their representatives don t do their homework on the credibility and substance of design consultants bidding on projects. He says: We would always, regardless if requested, volunteer references, projects to visit or perhaps for the client to interview the full project team proposed. In some cases, clients, or the client representatives, will follow this process or take us up on our offer, but in many cases that is not the case. We would either win the project, or not as the case may be, but I do feel clients and client representatives should undertake a put less emphasis on a design pitch which could, and let s be honest, have been outsourced. Commercial Interior Design MARCH

5 Gully bar and restaurant, Dubai. 6 Hotel refurbishment project in Dubai. 7 Orbi, family entertainment and experience centre in Dubai.

That said, we as leaders understand our people work long hours, so the time we spend and partners should be engaging and enjoyable.

This is something we em- crisis and now consider to be a fundamental aspect of leading and building In addition to the coaching, all employees have undertaken the Gallup Strengths-Finder, leading

5 5 Gully bar and restaurant, Dubai. 6 Hotel refurbishment project in Dubai. 7 Orbi, family entertainment and experience centre in Dubai. 8 Bluehaus has grown steadily from three to 60 people over the last 15 years. 9 Multi-brand retail store in Kuwait. for politics or bureaucracy. That said, we as leaders understand our people work long hours, so the time we spend and partners should be engaging and enjoyable. We work to ensure there is a Bluehaus Group recently launched We invest in leadership and team coaching from an organisation called 2bLimitless. This is something we em- crisis and now consider to be a fundamental aspect of leading and building In addition to the coaching, all employees have undertaken the Gallup Strengths-Finder, leading people to move into roles that best suit their strengths, which Corrigan describes as a win-win situation. While Bluehaus Group has historically designed corporate interiors, in including architecture, hospitality, retail and leisure. Corrigan says that the next three years look very encouraging: The Intercontinental Hotel refurbishment at Dubai Festival City is one we are very excited about, in addition to three He adds: To capitalise on the success of our work in the retail sector in 2016, we are working on a large scale retail project in Kuwait as well as another in Saudi Arabia. Within architecture, we are involved in two residential buildings in Al Barsha, a museum project in Jeddah and a number of other projects. Within the leisure and entertainment sector, we worked with Majid Al Futtaim on the Ski Dubai refurbishment in 2016 as well as the Orbi Entertainment Centre in Mirdif City Centre also With the delivery of the Chanel regional headquarters in Dubai Design District, the executive offices of Dubai Chamber, the design for a digital experience centre in Emaar Square, and a progressive office for Dubai Smart Government, the corporate workplace is still a strong sector for Bluehaus Group MARCH 2017 Commercial Interior Design

The crisis matured Bluehaus Group as a business. We were forced to make some tough we do, who we do it for and how we do it.

We have always looked to strike a balance between respecting multi-national global guidelines and knowing the non-nego- something about it should say this is Siemens Abu Dhabi, for example.

6 The crisis matured Bluehaus Group as a business. We were forced to make some tough we do, who we do it for and how we do it. Some multi-nationals have global guidelines, and some allow you total freedom. Chanel, for example, does not have global guidelines for its corporate workplace but requires a disciplined focus on consistency with its strong and well-respected brand; whereas Siemens has a very disciplined set of global guidelines to follow. We have always looked to strike a balance between respecting multi-national global guidelines and knowing the non-nego- something about it should say this is Siemens Abu Dhabi, for example. With Chanel, it was a great project as there was an element of freedom to design from a blank canvas but with a strong focus on aligning with the elegant and stunning brand that is Chanel. It was important that when you walked into the space, that even if there was no logo or brand, you knew you were in the Commenting on the advantages of delivering projects in the Middle East, Corrigan says that the fast-moving nature of the market means things get done without the bureaucracy many can experience in other markets. However, he added that this situation has, however, been a bit of a double-edged sword. He comments: It can mean that the project process can be less structured than perhaps in more mature markets, and expectations can on occasion be Commercial Interior Design MARCH

10 13 from Revit model to unrealistic, which can put a project team under pressure, meaning the client is not always getting the best value or best solution. This requires careful management.

We understand that in some cases clients or their project managers have genuine drivers or reasons for a project programme to run aggressively. That can be managed but must still be achievable.

In for the client and project team to sit around a table and focus on distinguishing what the key drivers are, what is the objective of the project, what does the end-goal look like and try and work

In 2013 Bluehaus Group invested in Building Information Modelling (BIM) with a goal to have fully-integrated BIM across the business (interior design, MEP and architecture) by 2014.

7 10 13 from Revit model to unrealistic, which can put a project team under pressure, meaning the client is not always getting the best value or best solution. This requires careful management. Corrigan adds that expectations on timelines can be challenging to manage, making the distinction between a fasttrack programme and an unrealistic one. We understand that in some cases clients or their project managers have genuine drivers or reasons for a project programme to run aggressively. That can be managed but must still be achievable. We are also seeing projects being unnecessarily aggressively run because that is what the client representative believes is the norm. In for the client and project team to sit around a table and focus on distinguishing what the key drivers are, what is the objective of the project, what does the end-goal look like and try and work backwards. Often once this is agreed, and the team are aligned, the project can be delivered within a more realistic, yet still fast-track, manner, says Corrigan. In 2013 Bluehaus Group invested in Building Information Modelling (BIM) with a goal to have fully-integrated BIM across the business (interior design, MEP and architecture) by This has been an exciting and interesting journey which frankly took us longer than expected and at a greater cost than anticipated, but the towards the end of 2014, says Corrigan. We also utilise 3D laser and point cloud surveying on all of our projects to ensure the base information we progress design from is accurate. Bluehaus Group is now using virtual reality (VR) on most projects, and this is something it is continuously developing. However, for Corrigan innovation does not always mean new. You can create a process or product that is new but makes you less productive. That is not innovation. Innovation improvement to a lifestyle, a process or a product, says Corrigan, concluding: To create an innovative culture is to create a culture of continuous improvement MARCH 2017 Commercial Interior Design

STRATEGIC ALLIANCE ANNOUNCED BETWEEN RÉALISATIONS-MONTRÉAL AND THINKWELL GROUP

STRATEGIC ALLIANCE ANNOUNCED BETWEEN RÉALISATIONS-MONTRÉAL AND THINKWELL GROUP LOS ANGELES / MONTRÉAL (APRIL 24, 2018) - Thinkwell Group and Réalisations-Montréal are pleased to announce a strategic alliance