The Opus by Zaha Hadid | Omniyat
Imagined by pure genious
Livable artform, mixed-use architectural marvel, and the late, great Zaha Hadid’s first and last project in the Middle East, The Opus required a brand identity befitting its multi-faceted magnificence.
This Opus embodied so much more than just another real-estate investment – it was a generation-defining vision comprising a true giant of design (Zaha Hadid), the internationally renowned Omniyat presence and the global luxury hotel brand ME by Meliá. Fifth Estate’s challenge was to develop a brand strategy and identity that respected yet distinguished these three powerhouse brands for a seamless experience across a wealth of touchpoints.
- Brand Strategy
- Brand Narrative
- Brand Visual Language
- Brand Video
- Print Collateral
- Outdoor Campaign
- Digital Campaign
- Sales Centre Design
- Website Design
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The Opus represented a number of firsts: not only was it the only hotel in the world to be designed inside and out by Zaha Hadid, but it heralded the arrival of luxury international hotel brand ME by Meliá in the Middle East – a branch of the project Fifth Estate also launched. But then there was the design of the building itself. Emerging as a single cube eroded by a fluid void, The Opus’s two towers seem to mimic the aqueous movement of ice – the building is a living sculpture, singular in style and sensibility. And all of these exceptional elements were definitive threads in the brand identity, naming, narrative and experience Fifth Estate wove together to see this development shine.
The star quality of The Opus put it solely in the realm of an ultra-exclusive target audience, guiding both the identity itself and the means of promotion. Our approach affirmed The Opus as a trophy asset in Dubai, foregrounding the genius of Zaha Hadid, the devotion to every executional detail and the exclusivity of the offering. Through a highly artistic and innovative strategic and creative direction that hinged on hand-drawn, three-dimensional and meticulously crafted details, every piece of brand collateral was a work of art in itself – an immersive, comprehensive, physical and virtual journey that invited the audience in.
Exhaustive digital assets, customer journey mapping, web experience and iPad app design were just a taste of the scope of work, with immersive physical and experiential activations cementing The Opus as an extraordinary offering. From the exceptional, award-winning typography that honored Zaha’s love of natural forms and undulating curves that inspired the building’s void, to the dimension-defying 3D cover of the project’s brand book, this brand strategy and identity mastered the miniscule to speak volumes. The Opus’s powerful status today and the awards it has won showcase this excellence in every part of its execution – in building, branding and being.
Awards
- Indigo Awards 2018 Silver for Book Design
- Indigo Awards 2018 Silver for Typography
Developer: Madinat Al Foutain, Oman
Fifth Estate reintroduced The Opus by Zaha Hadid as a cultural landmark, honouring an architectural legacy while shaping one of Dubai’s most iconic mixed-use destinations.
New Dimension
The brand book alone was a meticulously created masterpiece. In true reverence of the ‘Queen of the Curve’ Zaha Hadid, we brought three-dimensional extravagance to the 2D printed cover through the creation of blind-embossed hand-drawn organic lines celebrating Zaha’s visualizations of The Opus’s iconic central void. And within the book’s pages, you’ll find editorial-style award-winning typography honoring Zaha’s artistic genius – a reflection of the painstaking devotion to detail that encapsulated every part of Fifth Estate’s approach.
Modern Marvel
From every angle, in every light The Opus is something to behold, making its exceptional status crystal clear. This is why its materiality was so central to the strategy Fifth Estate developed. Through the use of 3D renders and designs, we were not only able to lead with the building’s incredible form, but also reinforce one of Zaha Hadid’s signatures – the devotion to the curve. By foregrounding the various feats of design, engineering and construction that comprised The Opus through visualizations, we ensured it cemented its status as an absolute marvel and appealed to our ultra-elite target market.
Vision to Reality
From the intricacies of smaller assets to the demands of experiential activations, we ensured our creative approach spoke volumes in every instance. We developed the interior design and wall graphics for The Opus’s sales center and created an immersive exhibition in the exclusive Harrods in London to put this development in front of the most discerning clients. We also organized a four-day hard-hat event for a select group of agents, investors and media representatives, taking them on a tour of the under-construction building to see its progress and view visualizations of how it would look and feel once completed. Once launched, The Opus attracted serious investment – the positioning was so successful that is elevated the entire Business Bay Dubai district, which allowed other developers in the vicinity to sell at a higher price point and drastically impacted investment and development in the area as a whole. The project also won awards including the 2022 MUSE Hotel Award Architecture Design (Hotels & Resorts) and the 2021 World Architecture Community Awards in the Realised Architecture category, a reflection of the magnificence of the project and excellence of its marketing.
