Melia's Dubai hotel designs to get London showcase

A centrepiece commissioned by ME by Melia Hotels International for its upcoming DUbai hotel and designed by Zaha Hadid is set to go on show at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum next month

This autumn’s London Design Festival, which runs from 13-21 September, will see the architect's sweeping “Crest” installation hovering above the pond in the museum’s garden.

The design has been commissioned by ME by Meliá Hotels International in celebration of the 2016 launch of the group's Hadid-designed ME Dubai hotel – which will form part of the Opus development in Business Bay.

It will be transported and set in place in time for the opening date.

“We envisaged a piece that would emerge from the fountain at the centre of the pool,” Hadid said. “The metallic surface will reflect the sky on one side and the rippling water on the underside.”

The futuristic addition will sit in stark contrast to the museum's 19th century façade.

Built to withstand relocation, the suspended piece will later migrate to Hadid's Dubai hotel project, taking up permanent residence within its sculptural surrounds.

“Crest is designed as a demountable sculpture to be installed at the ME Dubai,” said the architect.

Once reinstalled, the architect hopes the piece will continue “to explore the relationships between fluid and Cartesian, solid and void, surface and structure inherent within the hotel's design”.

“We are very excited that this spectacular piece of public art will launch ME Dubai," Gabriel Escarrer, CEO of Meliá Hotels International said. “The ME brand is centered on culture and design and this continues our series of renowned collaborative partnerships.”