New York University

Abu Dhabi

Clark Door was approached by Al Futtaim to assist with their new build campus project to provide high performance acoustic doors specifically for the theatre, film, music and visual arts departments at New York University, Abu Dhabi.

To allow venue flexibility in a large space and the functional requirements of the rehearsal rooms, film production studios and workshops, high quality sound insulation was paramount to enable students to work without compromise during a busy term time.  The high-performance acoustic doors play a key part in the design of the building in order to realise the architect’s vision for the space.  As well as the doors’ high performance the aesthetics of the rooms were also very exacting.

Al Futtaim had heard about Clark Door from other projects completed in the Gulf. Encouraged by Clark’s reputation as the market leader in delivering high quality acoustic doors that fulfil the client’s specification upon delivery.

Many of the doors were oversized fire-rated acoustic doors which is a Clark speciality.  The Clark Door team were able to provide functional doors that performed in terms of acoustics and that had been fire tested in a UK independent fire test lab.

The internal side of many of the rooms in the arts building were clad in timber and veneers.  Al Futtaim asked if it was possible to have the high performance of our steel door but clad them so they were in keeping with the room’s aesthetics.  This is something the Clark Door team has undertaken on many projects before, so were able to provide sample photos and discuss design detail options.  Al Futtaim introduced us to the local cladding company and we coordinated the design with them to achieve the desired excellent form and function envisaged by the architect.

Al Futtaim visited our UK factory to see the first doors in production. They were so impressed with the finish and quality of the acoustic doors that they added additional doors to our contract. The project grew into 184 doors in total with a contract value of circa £1million.  Our supervisory team trained the local site installation teams provided by our client in order to deliver a cost-efficient project.