We are delighted to finally share our award winning sustainable workplace we delivered earlier this year for The Supreme Council for Motherhood & Childhood (SCMC) – the independent UAE government organisation responsible for promoting the welfare and development of mothers and children in the country.

Working in close partnership with Dubai-based interior design studio Roar, the three-floor 3,500sqm ‘design and build’ project met the client’s ambitions to create a comfortable, harmonious, and functional workspace that complemented the existing headquarters of the General Women’s Union constructed on the adjacent plot.

SCMC’s brief was to create a space that is welcoming and purposeful for both adults and children, promote excellence and creativity in the fields of motherhood and childhood, as well as accommodate SCMC’s current team and future expansion. Paying homage to the UAE’s cultural heritage was a focus and was achieved with creative elements such as design structures that nod to the local desert landscape.

A key challenge in delivering the complex workspace was to ensure that the quality and attention to detail were adhered to consistently in the short project time. It also required careful management of the supply chain as the bespoke and individually designed spaces encompassed a substantial variety of materials, furnishings, and fixtures sourced from over 50 suppliers.

In line with the UAE government’s sustainability focus, Summertown ensured the project was completed in line with the stringent Abu Dhabi Green Building Estidama Pearl 2 Building Rating System, which SCMC is expected to be awarded in the coming months.

Marcos Bish, Managing Director, Summertown Interiors, said: “It was a pleasure to work on such a prestigious, sustainable project for the UAE Government. We worked in close collaboration with the designers at Roar to fast-track and deliver it in a record 100 days. Our transparent approach to regular progress reporting and clear communication ensured that the project met the high-end quality expectations of the client. We are delighted with the final result and hope the SCMC team, mothers, and children enjoy the playful, sustainable space for years to come.”

Each area of the SCMC workspace has been curated to have its own breath of life and create a sense of exploration for users, with a new experience in each space as they journey through the three floors. The ground floor, which includes a reception area, an exhibition space, an auditorium with mezzanine level, a children’s nursery and training rooms, has been designed to mimic the idea of a traditional outdoor courtyard, with the use of arches and biophilia that completely alters the atmosphere of the greeting space within the building, creating a memorable moment immediately upon greeting any visitor.

From the auditorium to the training rooms, the journey continues. Unique geometric shapes and structures have been used throughout the space to create pockets of functional spaces within the space that link back to the concept of the theme of ‘play’ throughout all floors of the project. The nursery space features vertical and horizontal play including the Lego wall, the sadu teddy bear, and climbing walls.

The first floor is the main office space, complete with collaboration spaces, seamless open workstation areas, meeting rooms, focus rooms, and a library.

The second floor houses an elegant office for Her Excellency, HE Rym Abdulla Al Falasy – Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood where overall theme of playfulness is incorporating with bespoke design elements made of locally-sourced materials such as terrazzo, brass mesh and stone. The executive offices are also located on this floor, with a unique reception space, majlis, and outdoor terrace that can accommodate special events.

Pallavi Dean, Founder and Creative Director of Roar, comments: “We wanted the design narrative to subtly allude to different cultural elements from the region while drawing attention to the SCMC’s core mission: to foster innovation and creativity in the fields of motherhood and childhood. Our shared passion for excellence has resulted in an exceptional workspace for SCMC and we are grateful for the excellent designer-contractor relationship we enjoy with Summertown Interiors that allowed us to deliver the project in record time.”

This September Summertown and Roar Studio proudly received two awards for the design and build of the SCMC office at the 2022 Commercial Interior Design Awards – “Interior Design of the Year Offices” and a highly commended award for “Interior Fit-out of the Year”.

During the build SCMC kindly allowed us to video the construction in stages and we have stitched this footage together to create this project progression video below.

Click here to see more photos.