Fire pits and lounges at Eywa: how the shared spaces of the Business Bay tower are arranged

Why put open fire in a high-rise?

Because fire is one of the elements the whole concept is built around, alongside water, timber and stone. Open flame in lounges and on terraces is unusual for high-rise Dubai, and it was not chosen by accident.

The elements follow from the idea of the building as a living organism. Its name refers to the guardian tree of a well-known film franchise, the facade imitates the fused aerial roots of a banyan, and the developer speaks openly of vastu, feng shui and natural crystals built into the structure.

Views on the esoteric side will differ. The fact remains that in the overheated luxury market of 2023 the projects that won were those with a coherent story, and this was one of the most recognisable in the city.

In practice a fire lounge is an evening living room under the open sky. Fire gathers people, sets the atmosphere and completes the set of elements; it is the part of the building given over to warmth and conversation.

Technically, such zones are designed to the strict fire-safety rules that apply to tall buildings. That is worth knowing before dismissing the idea as a gesture: it has to be engineered, not merely drawn.

How are the other shared spaces arranged?

As a sequence in which each zone answers for one element. Water is present as pools, cascades and the view of the canal; stone and timber appear in the finishes of the lobby, the spa and the private salons.

Biophilic architecture, as the developer presents it, is an attempt to give people back contact with nature inside a big city, and to treat a home as a source of energy and recovery.

The zoning is not a decorative whim. Studies of living environments show consistently that elements of living nature in a home reduce stress and raise the quality of life as residents themselves judge it.

A premium buyer pays less for square metres as such than for the state a home puts him in, and developers answer that demand with ever more ingenuity.

In this building that means nature built in at every level: planted terraces, natural materials, and water, stone and fire in the shared areas. The aim is to take the strain out of city life without leaving the centre.

What were residents promised?

A wellness programme to match the facade. As presented in July 2023, the list ran from a spa complex with thermal zones and treatment rooms to fitness spaces and studios for yoga and meditation.

There are pools, including infinity formats with a view of Downtown, private lounges, a cinema room and children’s areas. The fire-pit areas for evening gatherings sit in the same list, alongside a concierge service of hotel standard.

I read a list like that as a promise to be checked against the contract, as with any building still under construction. What it does show is where the emphasis lies: on the places where residents spend time together, not only on the apartments.