BY RAYNALD C RIVERA
DOHA: Qatar will have its first open-space air-conditioned commercial mall when Katara Plaza opens its doors next year, it was announced yesterday.
Being built on a 38,000sqm area, the multi-million-riyal project is poised to become a major attraction at Katara, with its unique features, including well-known French department store Galeries Lafayette, an exclusive evian Spa, and a children’s mall, among others.
Speaking at a press conference to unveil the project, Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager, Katara, said: “The project is one of the mega investment projects to enhance the strategy of making Katara a lucrative cultural and economic project.
“The project forms a unique and distinguished experience. It blends classical and traditional architecture, reflecting the vision and objectives of Cultural Village Foundation as a cultural edifice that combines Qatari identity and global arts,” added Dr Al Sulaiti.
Nabeel Ali bin Ali, Vice- Chairman and EVP, Ali Bin Ali Group which will operate the mall, said Katara Plaza is set to be an “iconic landmark for luxury, retail and lifestyle.”
When it opens in September next year, he said, it would house leading brands and is poised to “become an unparalleled destination for fashion, luxury, lifestyle, art, wellness and entertainment for adults and children year round.”
Galeries Lafayette is one of the first tenants to ink an agreement to put up a vast retail centre focusing on fashion.
Laurent Haynez, Senior Vice-President, Strategy and Business Development, Galeries Lafayette Group, said the store in the plaza would be Galeries Lafayette’s sixth branch abroad. Operating for 120 years, the department store has 300 branches which witness one million customers daily.
World-famous Paris-based architect Bruno Moinard, who designed Galeries Lafayette, said by far it was his largest project to date to recreate “the image of Paris in Doha” and would be unique in terms of design, materials and large space.
Another tenant which has secured space in the plaza is French natural mineral water brand evian which will open one of its exclusive spas in the world. The evian Spa Doha will offer wellness experience that would literally transport customers to an evian universe and its French Alpine birthplace.
Laurent Houel, Evian Global Director, said the spa promises a “complete experience that goes beyond treatment” with the spa’s architectural design which mirrors the story of the journey of the water from the Alps combined with sounds and sights.
A pioneering feature of the plaza, the children’s mall’s design depict two big gifts wrapped in red and gold, reflecting an atmosphere of joy and fun and innovation and architectural design.
The Peninsula
