Many of the world’s A-list architects have descended upon Dubai, asits desert sands are parted for ever more extravagant developments. Butlesser known firms are showing up there as well.

ZASArchitects Inc., a 50-person firm in Toronto, recently won a commissionfrom Nakheel, one of the emirate’s largest developers, to design a$1.25 billion waterfront complex that will encompass 7.2 million squarefeet. The project, dubbed Marina and Beach Towers, is part of a largerdevelopment called Dubai Promenade, which is being constructed on a55-acre artificial peninsula that was created by dredging up the floorof the Persian Gulf. Nearby are the three manmade islands collectivelyknown as the Palm Triology, another Nakheel project.

Likemany developments in the rapidly growing emirate, Dubai Promenade isgrand in scale. ZAS’s portion includes five 45- to 60-story condominiumtowers, all of which sit atop a 2 million-square-foot, multi-levelpodium. This enormous base will contain high-end shops and restaurants,along with parking for 6,000 cars, explains Paul Stevens, a ZAS seniorprincipal. The Dubai Promenade scheme also calls for six additionalbuildings, including an office tower and a silver, donut-shaped hoteldesigned by the international firm, Atkins.

Asignature feature of the ZAS towers are exterior walls that leanoutward. A concrete core and concrete outrigger beams help createlateral stability, allowing for floor plates that are free of columnsor shear walls, says Marek Zawadzski, a ZAS senior design partner whocommutes between Toronto and Dubai. “If a purchaser wants to create oneapartment that spans an entire floor,” he says, “there are nostructural walls or interior columns that stand in their way, which isa great selling feature.”

This is one of severalZAS projects now underway in Dubai. The Canadian firm opened its Dubaioffice in 2005 and is working on commissions totaling 10 million squarefeet.