Salt, sand, clay, limestone, and palm are the materials that shape the landscape of the Emirates. Sharjah Design Centre (SDC) invites us to see in them the foundation of future design. On 2 November 2026, the centre unveiled its vision for a new regional institution that will bring together design, material research, prototyping, and production. SDC will open in 2029 in the Sharjah Creative Quarter, across from the University City of Sharjah and next to the House of Wisdom.
From idea to object
The centre is led by H.E. Sheikha Hind bint Majid Al Qasimi. “Promising ideas often remain at the research stage because the infrastructure to develop and realise them is not readily accessible,” she says. “Sharjah Design Centre will change that and give designers a place to research, test and realise their ideas with the expertise, resources and collaboration opportunities to take them all the way into production.”
Sheikha Hind studied fine arts at the University of Sharjah and in 2011 founded the porcelain label Designed by Hind. In her work, the patterns of traditional weaving (Safeefah, Sadu, and Talli) are carried over into porcelain.
To make that journey possible, SDC will house seven specialist labs: textiles, rapid prototyping, glass, ceramics, jewellery, metal, and wood, each serving at once as a research facility, a learning environment, and a production space. A Material Library will catalogue research and experimental materials and hold a collection of design publications. It will be linked to a Digital Archive of research, publications and maps of the emirate’s manufacturing capabilities. The building will also include private studios, co-working and exhibition spaces, and a shop.
A theatre of alchemy
The most striking aspect of the centre’s vision is its approach to materials. Its research initiative Theatrum Al Kimiya, “theatre of alchemy”, is being developed with Atelier LUMA, a programme of LUMA Arles in France. True to its name, it is concerned with transformation: salt and brine, limestone, sand, clay, palm, shells, wool and mycelium, along with ceramic and demolition waste, are being studied as materials for the future of design and construction.
This search has a history of its own. Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council has worked with Atelier LUMA since 2020, and in 2023, it published Architecture of Culture, produced with the American University of Sharjah. The book explores four natural environments of the Emirates – the palm oasis, the desert, waterscapes, and mountainscapes – and the materials and crafts associated with them. Theatrum Al Kimiya builds on this research. Jan Boelen, artistic director of Atelier LUMA, describes the approach of his lab: “We are making a kind of library of knowledge around these materials. We want to build a kind of formula that can also be applied in other regions.”
For a new material to become an object, it has to be tested, and it needs a place where it can be made. SDC is therefore developing a material certification programme with Atelier LUMA and AUS, and working with the Sharjah Economic Development Department and the AUS College of Engineering on Sharjah Industrial Mapping, a project that documents the emirate’s manufacturing capabilities and connects designers with local industry. Workshops, courses, masterclasses, residencies, and professional development programmes will bridge the gap between design education and professional practice.
Built from the same earth
The idea of local material extends to the architecture. Like the entire Sharjah Creative Quarter, SDC is designed by the Mexican practice Taller de Arquitectura – Mauricio Rocha in collaboration with Spanish architect Daniel Rosselló. The architecture responds to the local climate and landscape and incorporates the ancient technique of rammed earth construction. Presenting the Sharjah Creative Quarter in January 2025, Mauricio Rocha said: “We envision the Sharjah Creative Quarter as a citadel immersed in a landscape with complex topography and nature. (…) Patios and plazas connect interiors with exteriors and the treatment of light brings focus on contemplation and creativity.”
Rocha founded his practice in Mexico City in 1991. In 2019, it received the Médaille d’Or of the Académie d’Architecture in France, and in 2023, the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize for the renovation and expansion of the Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City, conceived by Diego Rivera. Daniel Rosselló is the founder of Double Rainboww, a Barcelona-based studio recognised with the FAD Award.
Sharjah Creative Quarter
The Sharjah Creative Quarter was established by His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, and is chaired by Sheikha Hoor bint Sultan Al Qasimi. SDC’s neighbours will include the Irthi Museum, Sharjah Fashion Lab, Qasimi Archives, the Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi Collection and L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts, supported by Van Cleef & Arpels. In this setting, the design centre will stand between heritage and the future, a place where craft research becomes design.
To learn more about the Sharjah Creative Quarter, please visit its official website.
