Terminals, transport hubs and public buildings drawn at civic scale.

Airports · Terminals · Public Buildings · Civic Architecture

How many people will move through this building on its busiest morning, and will the plan still hold? Algedra is a commercial buildings design company that answers questions at that scale, designing airport terminals, transport interchanges and public buildings for clients in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and across the Gulf. Our architects work from passenger numbers, arrival sequences and structural spans through to the ornament on the roof shell, drawing the whole building as one piece. Talk to our team about your project and we will start with the numbers that shape everything after.

One studio, drawing to completion. Massing, structure, envelope, and the interior volumes beneath the roof are developed together, so the concourse a passenger stands in was drawn by the architects who set the span above it.

Built for the climate it stands in. Deep canopies, shaded kerbsides, high-performance glazing and perforated screens keep public volumes comfortable through a Gulf summer while daylight still reaches the floor.

Approvals understood from the first sketch. Civil Defence requirements, accessibility standards, fire strategy and municipality submission shape the plan early, rather than arriving as revisions late.

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What We Design

Our commercial buildings work covers the structures a city relies on to move and gather people.

Airport terminal architecture — Departures and arrivals halls, check-in and immigration zones, concourses and piers, kerbside canopies, and the long-span roof structures that cover them. Our Falcon Wing terminal concept was conceptualized around a single sculptural roof spanning the full width of the apron frontage.

Aviation and transport facilities — Private jet and VIP terminals, executive lounges, cargo and support buildings, metro and bus interchanges, and the covered links between them.

Public and civic buildings — Government offices, cultural and community facilities, exhibition and event buildings, and healthcare buildings, each planned around the flow of visitors through them.

Large-span and structural envelopes — Shell roofs, tensile and composite canopies, curtain-wall elevations, and perforated metal screens carrying geometric pattern, engineered with structural consultants at concept stage.

For retail-led schemes, our architects design shopping malls and retail centres as a separate discipline. Banking halls and branch networks sit with our bank architecture team, and high-rise commercial floorplates with our commercial towers architects. Site access, parking and the wider landside layout are developed by our urban design team.

How We Work

Programme and passenger flow — We establish capacity, peak-hour movement and the sequence a visitor follows from vehicle to gate, and the plan grows from that sequence.

Concept and massing — Roof form, elevation and volume are tested in three dimensions, with structural spans and column grids checked against the plan.

Envelope and material selection — Glazing specification, shading strategy, cladding and finishes are resolved together. Palettes run to pale limestone, honed travertine, white composite panel, anodised aluminium screens and clear low-iron glass.

Authority submission — Drawings are prepared for municipality, Civil Defence and aviation authority review, with our engineers responding through the approval cycle.

Construction documentation — Full technical packages, details and schedules are issued for tender, and our architects remain available through site delivery.

Choose Your Direction

Sculptural — A building identified by its roof, with curved shells and tapering spans read from the air as readily as from the forecourt.

Regional contemporary — Modern volumes carrying Arabic geometric pattern in perforated screens, mashrabiya panels and filtered daylight.

Structural minimalism — Exposed structure, long clear spans, white steel and glass, with the engineering left visible.

Civic classical — Stone, colonnade and symmetry, for government and cultural buildings that carry institutional weight.

Where We Build

Our architects design commercial buildings across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and throughout Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain. Regional work extends to Riyadh, Jeddah, Doha, Kuwait City, Manama and Muscat, with projects delivered from our Dubai and Istanbul studios.

Arrange a consultation with our architects to discuss your terminal or public building.

Book a design consultation

Dubai: +971 52 811 1106 | WhatsApp: +971 52 811 1106 | hello@algedra.ae