Dubai Metro’s profile is going to see a sea-change with the Naming Rights Project. TDC will revise the maps and implement station signage to incorporate the logos and names of sponsors.
Tony Howard, founder of TDC, says that the biggest things that need to be changed are the maps. Discussion on how to go about it is underway as they need to consider giving everyone equal exposure, as well as make the brand of the sponsors work on small and large scale formats.
While some sponsors are sticking to the original names of the stations and applying their brands there, others are renaming the stations after their product or service. Some of the stations with cultural names have to be retained as well as for geographical reasons. However, there are a number of locations where it is up to whoever wants to sponsor the station, to rename it.
Stations named after companies include First Gulf Bank station and the Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority station. Howard says that proving their worst fear wrong, most stations retained straight forward local names. Whether the names are commercial or not does not matter to overseas visitors, as long as they are identifiable, adds Howard.
Local Emirates Press reports that the naming initiative is thought to have yielded around AED90 million ($24.5 million), with the value of stations dependent on their locations, which is being used for the construction of the Metro.
Dubai Rail and Transport Authority will finalize interior designs for station fit-out. Designed by UK’s KCA International, who also designed the interiors of Dubai’s Burj Al Arab hotel, the scheme is based around the idea of the four elements – fire, earth, water and air.
John Carolan, design director of KCA Dubai, says that color palettes inspired from each of these elements will be used sequentially throughout the Metro. He adds that while the underground stations will ‘be on a par with Moscow’, architect Aedas has designed the surface stations to reflect Dubai’s pearl-diving heritage through shell-like roofs.
Carolan adds that the stations will make bold use of colors and material combinations to create something ‘unique’ for the city. With all this underway, the overarching Dubai Metro branding is yet to come, says Howard.
