International Architecture + Design

nicholas.design

Architecture, Architects, design, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, India
Architecture, Architects, design, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, India
Architecture, Architects, design, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, India
Architecture, Architects, design, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, India
Architecture, Architects, design, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, India
Architecture, Architects, design, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, India
Architecture, Architects, design, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, India

GCC and MENA focus

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nicholas is based in the Gulf and delivers projects across the Kingdoms of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the GCC, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent and internationally.

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We understand our clients and their markets.  

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We are dynamic, accessible and highly responsive.

Always a team approach

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nicholas is a team of exceptionally talented architects, designers and building specialists who draw on a wealth of international and large-project experience. ‍

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Design is our passion, and we live and breathe to make buildings which inspire, are of high creative value, perform with integrity, and function brilliantly.

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We deliver by firstly listening and then tailoring a response developed from specifics as well as from – more broadly – culture, place, and shared experience.

Transformational value

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The city and its context, community aspirations, and the current imperatives to adapt and reinvent are all tools which we harness for social, environmental, and economic regeneration, and to effect positive change.

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To make a real difference, we know that architecture must be transformative. We harness the power of design to build better communities and to enhance the the natural world.

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This is the transformational value which we bring to projects.

Economic sense

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Being both “international” and “local” we are able to balance aspirations with economics. While our standards are international, our presence on the ground means that we know the market conditions, code requirements and the best ways to build things.

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Your business case informs us, and we employ techniques such as modularisation, standardisation, and management of process to achieve economies of scale, drive the value proposition and ensure success.  

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This is the economic sense which we bring to projects.

Part of the wider Durrat-al-Bahrain project, and measuring over one square kilometre in area, the marina forms the second major strategic development node along Bahrain’s southern coast. The master plan is mixed-use, incorporating residential and retail land uses, along with a commercial hub. With the framework now in place, construction is on-going. The project is the Arabian Property Award recipient for Best Marina Development, 2008.

Durrat-al-Bahrain Marina

Bahrain, 2008
Located at Bahrain Bay, this commercial proposal was prepared for a major international developer. Components include a large-scale retail centre, hotel, serviced apartments, office tower and mosque, organised around a central town plaza. Use of outdoor space is prioritised, and several climate-modifying features are employed to promote evaporative cooling and lower the perceived external air temperature.

Bahrain Bay Commercial

Bahrain, 2008
Designed to sit adjacent to Zaha Hadid’s Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre, this 30-storey commercial development was proposed as part of Baku’s new civic, administrative hub.

Baku Commercial

Baku, Azerbaijan, 2009
The project comprises a master plan and design of buildings for a large ex-industrial site in the city of Mumbai. Its components include a retail and entertainment precinct, office buildings with large-format floor plates and an iconic tower. A key objective was to retain as many existing site features and as much existing vegetation as possible – allowing the site to retain its unique character as well as to act as a “green lung” within the context of the wider city.

Mumbai Commercial

Mumbai, India, 2009
This mixed-use business development in northern Jeddah proposes itself as a “centre” in an area of urban sprawl which currently lacks one. A combination of retail, office space, hotel and serviced apartments acts as “magnet” and focal point, allowing people to remain on site for longer and reducing the need for car journeys during the day. The design includes a large outdoor civic space with water garden and shaded areas which utilise climate modifying features to increase occupant comfort and extend the period of seasonal usage.

Jeddah Commercial

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2009
This office tower, with roof-top health club and strong retail presence at ground floor, was the MIPIM Awards Future Buildings – Office Buildings award recipient in 2007. The jury praised its “active” street frontage, shallow floor plate for optimal daylighting, and the use of passive façade shading to reduce energy consumption. Office buildings of this type are easily distinguishable from their competitors and offer a significant point of difference to tenants and their employees in a crowded market.

Kuwait Commercial 1

Kuwait, 2007
An office tower for the outskirts of Kuwait combines a slender and iconic form with a delicate external screen which acts as a passive shading device. The large mixed-use podium includes retail and restaurants, providing high levels of tenant amenity.

Kuwait Commercial 2

Kuwait, 2009
This was a competition entry for the new headquarters of the Kuwait Investment Authority. It is a graceful tower with a glazed façade facing North towards the waterfront, and having its eastern, western, and southern elevations shielded from the sun by a shroud. The design offers an elegant solution which draws strongly on both climate and location.

Kuwait Investment Authority Headquarters

Kuwait, 2007
The tower accommodates 27 one-bedroom apartments on a constrained inner-city site. Privacy and the provision of quality outdoor living space were key considerations. The project makes extensive use of precast concrete for modularity and off-site fabrication.

Australasia Residential 1

Auckland, New Zealand, 2018
A waterfront development proposed for the eastern coastline of Bahrain which makes use of extensive façade modulation to both demonstrate human scale and to promote passive solar shading. Each apartment is provided with a generous balcony in addition to the community gardens at podium level.

Bahrain Residential 1

Bahrain, 2007
This large, mixed-use development combines residential towers with a smaller quantum of office space and a retail podium. A restaurant precinct opens to a pedestrian boulevard at the waterfront. It was intended that the public realm would extend for several kilometres at the water’s edge, taking on the form of a landscaped “garden spine”. The project was designed to be the catalyst which would ignite this vision.

Bahrain Residential 2

Bahrain, 2008
The floor plate of the individual apartment towers assumes an elliptical form which is then rotated to maximise exposure to the site’s spectacular views. The façades are highly modulated to achieve a human scale and to effect shading. All apartments have balconies, many of which are enclosed to form cool “summer gardens” – the opposite of the cold-climate “wintergarden”. The development utilises podium rather than basement parking to elevate the main structures, affording even the lower-level apartments an excellent aspect and access to sea breezes. All residences are situated near to extensive landscaped outdoor areas and communal facilities, including a health club.

Bahrain Bay Apartments

Bahrain, 2008
The scheme comprises three high-rise apartment towers at the Dubai waterfront, arranged in staggered plan to optimise outlook. While each tower remains slightly different to the others in outward appearance, the tripartite composition engenders a unified and harmonious whole.

Dubai Residential 1

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2008
This versatile development within an established Kuwait suburb prioritises residential usage, but also includes serviced apartments and a retail podium within its component mix. The project is easily identified by the iconic forms of its towers, which offer impressive neighbourhood and sea views from every level.

Kuwait Residential

Kuwait, 2009
A waterfront aged care village comprising apartments for retirement living and a hospital floor. The complex provides extensive residents’ facilities including restaurants, a leisure centre and extensive community gardens. The facility is located adjacent to a town centre with local shops, making the residents’ lifestyle proposition “walkable”.

Australasia Healthcare

Auckland, New Zealand, 2015
A feasibility study and concept for a “health city”, designed to promote medical tourism while simultaneously serving domestic clients. The proposition is towards “umbrella healthcare” with all services available in a single location, including hotel facilities where patients’ relatives can stay overnight, and office and laboratory facilities to house testing, medical research, and administrators. The model is ideally suited to a public-private partnership arrangement, which would offer the widest possible access to healthcare.

Medical City

Middle East, 2012
Part of an urban renewal precinct, the project acts as an energising catalyst to an ageing city centre with a declining population base. The programme includes a major retail anchor, health centre and new civic space. The hotel adopts an iconic medium-rise tower form. Its glowing, golden roof acts as a beacon.

Regenerative City Centre Hotel

South Island, New Zealand, 2019
A design concept for a luxury Middle Eastern resort. The proposal references the forms of its historical surroundings and hugs the coastline. It contains a major hospitality precinct and outdoor promenade centred around pools and water features. The target audience for the hotel is not only international guests, but also domestic tourists and locals attracted to the colourful spectacle offered by the outdoor dining facilities.

Middle East Resort

Middle East, 2013
A multi-purpose space for an intermediate school which can be used for assembly, sports, theatrical performances, and events. The building’s eaves project by six metres, effectively doubling the floor area available for large gatherings by allowing them to spill onto the covered outdoor terrace. Flexibility and “future proofing” are integral to the project, which embraces the idea that uses will evolve as the school grows, future generations of students are enrolled, and new technologies come to the fore.

School Multi-Purpose Building

Auckland, New Zealand, 2022
This is an adaptive re-use of an existing vacant building, transforming it into a “Masterchef” cooking school for primary age students. Despite its modest size, the project was awarded the Learning Environments New Zealand Supreme Award for 2022. Judges praised the space’s dynamism and use of colour, and the way it frames and promotes the “theatricality” of cooking, presenting the activity as an “event” into which students are unwittingly drawn.

Primary School Garden-to-Table Project

Auckland, New Zealand, 2021
Completed in stages over several years, the project involved the remodelling of an ageing inner-city primary school into a dynamic learning hub with an interconnected array of new and refurbished classroom spaces and other facilities. The entire school was reorganised around a new processional entranceway which strengthens relationships between different parts of the school. The new and existing classrooms face each other across a large outdoor playground. The school remained open throughout the various stages of construction.

Multistage Primary School Redevelopment

Auckland, New Zealand, 2020
The Supreme Education Council complex is a geometrical arrangement of interlinked structures set within a landscaped park. The “deep façades” make extensive use of screening and projecting overhangs to alleviate the effects of climate on the building and its occupants. Interior and exterior circulation routes are equally prioritised.

Supreme Education Council Headquarters

Doha, Qatar, 2015
The overarching principle for the design of this large residential building is a deep façade which shades the glazing. The provision of solar shading and insulation are two key factors to consider in reducing energy consumption and reliance on air conditioning. All the apartments have wide balconies with seamless indoor-outdoor flow, and great daylighting which is free from glare. The building’s monolithic treatment assumes a monumental quality, while at close quarters its treatment is fine-grained, giving it poise.

Dubai Residential 2

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2024
Black City is a major redevelopment of the historic city of Baku’s eastern suburbs into a new metropolitan centre on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The name “Black City” relates to the area’s oil-rich heritage. Construction of Black City is on-going.

Black City

Baku, Azerbaijan, 2009
This low-rise residential development occupies a forested setting and is designed to have a minimal ecological footprint. It comprises six low-rise buildings with one- and two-bedroom apartments and a hidden under-croft car park.

Australasia Residential 2

Auckland, New Zealand, 2023
The design of this five-storey building, which is benched into a slope, comprises one- and two-bedroom apartments, all with private terraces and balconies. Precast concrete was chosen for the structure and envelope due to its excellent thermal qualities and a desire for off-site fabrication.

Australasia Residential 3

Auckland, New Zealand, 2023
Retail, entertainment and dining are at the forefront in this outdoor waterfront quarter. The plan is largely public at the ground floor, with residential usage on the upper levels. Buildings are tightly packed, assuming the form of a ‘modern souq’. This, together with extensive landscaping and water features, sees tradition and technology combined into a shaded precinct for year-round enjoyment. This is not only a more sustainable way to plan cities, but also regenerative.

Resort Island Town Centre

Bahrain, 2024
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