Design and Architecture bureau (DAR) was established in 1985. The firm was then re-structured in 1996 jointly by Engineer Hussain Lootah and Architect Ibrahim Salem. Today, DAR exudes the excellence dreamt of by its founders, with a multicultural staff at the helm, driven by the sense of mission and duty towards finding creative and innovative design & engineering solutions. This mission is not only reflected within its staff, but also within the project track record continually expanding at DAR. Represented as one of the leading practices within the UAE, Gulf and middle east regions, the work speaks for itself, with nearly 800 projects successfully completed to date. The skyline of Dubai is a true testament to the accomplishments, ambitions, and capabilities found within DAR. As the birthplace of this firm, DAR with the utmost confidence, masters the needs, desires and expectations of the local landscape in Dubai and UAE.

DAR prides itself in the foundations of its most valuable asset, the members that make up the Team. Comprised of an eclectic, determined, and diverse group of people, every team member exemplifies the missions of the firm. Through the creativity, intellect, professionalism, and innovation that DAR fosters, client and project needs are met with excellence.

DAR covers a vast range, including some of the most significant market sectors. Aside from the range in type, our range in scale (from a villa to a masterplan) makes us exceptionally well-rounded to fulfill any client’s needs. DAR has proven itself in these sectors through the Dubai market particularly. The firm maintains employees with a seasoned set of unique skills to fulfill any project type, whether a hospital, villa, or tower. Although we are a well-rounded firm in capabilities, some of our most acclaimed skills that clients continue to return for are our space/layout planning for our effective organization and cost considerations, as well as our regular quantity surveying that sets up unparalleled accuracy for developing a project.

More importantly than the work we do in creating projects for our clients, is the Quality Control & Quality Assurance measures we take to assure that clients receive the very best service from our desks. Our Staff is trained rigorously to review the work we produce and to hold one another accountable for the work created as we strive towards our vision of excellence. This level of rigorous monitoring of the production of our designs has led to the reputation we take pride in, the guarantee that any client who works with us will only receive the most exceptional results. A dedicated department for document controlling is a unique feature that allows us to assert our Quality Assurance commitment. The department is entirely responsible for every document that is received or sent out of our offices. However, quality assurance doesn’t end when we complete our deliverables. We have a series of processes in place for following up after every stage of a project to assure our products are meeting the standards of not only the clients but of the company.

TIME, COST, QUALITY. These are the primary parameters set to fulfill the deliverables needed by our clients. With this in mind, our office layout design is structured into distinctive sections, operating as specified components in an entirely cohesive and efficient production system. Our office operates using a Tall structure organization system, where departments are distinctly defined with managerial heads that interact with one another, and subordinate staff for each division to produce. Our Project Management method makes sure to identify the Project’s aspects and its systematic risks for us to prevent. Through a well-established communication system asserted through traditional formats as well as digitally modern means, the delivery of our products becomes a leisurely journey for our most willing clients. Every correspondence is thoroughly documented and recorded for the office’s records and to reassure the accountability DAR holds itself to with its work. Our offices’ communication system has ensured our consistency in getting Dubai Municipality and Civil Defense approvals in the UAE with a level of efficiency that competes with other architecture & engineering service providers in the market.

DAR Consult understands the need for the evolution of the building scheme in line with the Dubai Smart City Initiative. This is why DAR offers clients the possibilities for Smart and Sustainable Buildings with an integrated design approach resulting in a multi-functional, productive, comfortable and energy efficient building. We believe that the control, monitoring, and automation systems are an essential aspect to a smart building in a Smart City’s optimal operational performance related to life safety, comfort, security, energy, and a healthy atmosphere thus, controlling the Smart Building’s intelligence. With DAR new generation of architects, we operate at the intersection of technology, innovation, business, operations, strategy, and people. We design to achieve key sustainability objectives and undertake environmental urban planning methods for sustainable and smart community developments. One of our most compelling Smart projects is Silicon Park, which is considered to be Dubai’s first Smart City.

As significant factors toward a successful project, budget and Schedule management are subjected to rigorous management throughout the various project phases starting from initial briefs to contract agreements, and finally to hand-overs. DAR has truly made a name for itself in the way we adhere to a client’s budget and scheduling needs, achieving extraordinary feats that have gained recognition by themselves. We make sure this is possible by staying up-to-date on the ever-changing market, together with the utilization of the latest software and techniques for generating, updating and controlling these two essential elements of any Project.

DAR projects have received a variety of awards across the board in the form of competition awards, building awards, local, regional, and international recognitions, and client recipient awards. These awards are treated as a responsibility by DAR rather than as a complement to our skills as a company. The awards assert our reliability and trust within the markets we work and beyond, and we take pride in this success.

DAR takes pride in the way our staff can communicate and respect one another. It is a natural feature of this Firm to have an Open-Door Policy, where team members can experience the accessibility to management or one another with confidence. The purpose of an open-door policy is to encourage open communication, feedback, and discussion about any matter of importance. Design-wise, this policy gets reinforced through the office’s layout. The layout is sectioned out by departments but maintains open plan formats within each department for free-flowing discussion within. Our office uses voluntary social reinforcement using our social committee to emphasize our Open-Door Policy by encouraging engagement amongst a large number of staffs we have under our roof and on our project sites. This relaxed communication line not only ensures people take or make decisions faster but also ensures that the workplace is conscious of its staff impact.

Our commitment to sustainability starts in our offices, maintaining a constant responsibility as a profession towards the environment. A variety of permanent initiatives have been made in the office to assure we uphold the mission we aspire toward. A top conventional practice of the profession is paper consumption; as a result, DAR has taken the major stride to perform all correspondence and submissions digitally unless physical form is absolutely required. In addition to paper recycling becoming a permanent practice, atmospheric changes to the office have been made to include LED lighting, as well as Smart Environmental Control Switches for our A/C systems.

Aside from DAR’s initiative towards minimizing physical impact, the firm assures the team be well-equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary to design sustainably, with many of the staff members holding a variety of LEED Certifications. The Dubai Municipality Sustainability Guidelines further serve as a baseline standard towards our sustainability efforts in every project created since its release. Just as DAR Consult commits itself to assuring clients and communities create Eco-Friendly projects, this commitment starts in-house, as our promise to the environment starts with ourselves.