Traditions in Deira Waterfront Gold Souq

As Design Manager within the project management consultancy, Roger Barefoot supported the Investment Corporation of Dubai on the Deira Waterfront Gold Souq development. AE7 acted as the lead and design architect. Roger managed the design delivery programme, coordinated the multidisciplinary design process, and ensured the client's requirements were addressed through the design stages and up to tender. The development was a major mixed-use regeneration project in Dubai's historic Deira district, with the hotel component operated by Wyndham Group. The scope included several hotels ranging from two-star to four-star accommodation, residential apartment buildings, the Gold Souq, central parking structures, and a transport hub connection to the Dubai Metro. The wider infrastructure works included the reconfiguration of existing roads and supporting infrastructure to connect the new development with the surrounding district. Roger's responsibilities focused on maintaining programme, coordinating design information between the client, lead architect, consultants, and project stakeholders, and managing the resolution of design requirements through tender documentation. He worked across the hospitality, residential, retail, transport, parking, roads, and infrastructure interfaces to support a coordinated and deliverable design. A key challenge was the interface between the four-star hotel and the existing Dubai Metro infrastructure. This required careful coordination of the architectural, structural, transport, and operational requirements so that the new development could be integrated above and around an active metro environment. Roger worked on the project for approximately two years, from design development through tendering, with his design-stage involvement completing around 2016. Phase 1 was subsequently delivered in stages and the completed development is operational. The project demonstrates experience managing complex urban regeneration, transport interfaces, and multidisciplinary design delivery across a large mixed-use district.