MEAN*

Middle East

Architecture

Network

Regional Knowledge, Given New Form

Shaped By The Way People Live

MEAN* (Middle East Architecture Network) is an architecture practice based in Dubai, founded by Riyad Joucka in 2016, with its studio at Dubai Design District (d3). We design homes, wellness and hospitality spaces, retail environments and cultural projects in the UAE and abroad, both new buildings and the adaptation of existing ones.

We study the shelter of a courtyard, the light filtered by a mashrabiya, and the place of the majlis in a home. Computational design and digital fabrication help us adapt these spatial ideas to contemporary materials and each project's needs.

From buildings to objects we consider how parts become whole to the detail of how parts are made

Built Work

Residential

Wellness & Hospitality

Retail & F&B

Cultural & Public

Research

Selected Work

Residential projects consider privacy and shared life; wellness and hospitality projects address the experience of the people who use them alongside the practical needs of operators. Materials are chosen together with the spatial design, with attention to light, surfaces and the way parts meet.

Repeat Wellness Club

Barcelona, Spain · Built · 2026

Send Location

Dubai, UAE · Built · 2025

The Migrant Kitchen

New York, USA · Built · 2022

Woven roof canopy and ferry terminal on the Han River in Seoul.

Yeoui-Naru Ferry Terminal

Seoul, South Korea · Proposal · Competition entry · 2017

Limestone arcades and shaded terraces at the proposed Barjeel Art Foundation Museum in Sharjah.

Sharjah Modern

Sharjah, UAE · Proposal · 2019

Visualisation of the proposed members' club in Dubai: interconnected buildings around a central pool and a shared rooftop landscape.

Members Club & Fashion Incubator

Dubai, UAE · Proposal · 2023

Circular courtyard house with arched lattice screens in AlUla.

Cosmos House

AlUla, Saudi Arabia · Proposal · 2022

Interior of the MEAL design innovation and robotic fabrication campus in Dubai.

MEAL* Design Innovation Campus

Dubai, UAE · Proposal · Investment pitch · 2017

Limestone mountain villa with an internal courtyard on Jebel Jais.

House 00

Jebel Jais, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE · Proposal · Schematic design · 2020

Contemporary majlis proposal with fluid printed walls, integrated seating and a roof skylight.

3D Printed Majlis

Abu Dhabi, UAE · Proposal · Schematic design · 2020

Meta-Modular

Dubai, UAE · Proposal · 2023

Deciduous

Dubai, UAE · Built · 2019

Audi Innovation Hub

Dubai, UAE · Built · 2018

Layered reusable kiosk designed for Hermès as a communal retail setting in Dubai.

Le Monde d'Hermès Kiosk

Dubai, UAE · Built · 2022

Luminescents

Dubai, UAE · Built · 2021

CNC-milled Jordanian stone installation representing water scarcity.

ARID

Amman, Jordan · Built · 2017

Slender carbon-fibre shade canopies above integrated public seating.

Penumbra

Dubai, UAE · Proposal · 2023

Desert Pavilion

Wadi Rum, Jordan · Proposal · 2020

Lamella

NEOM, Saudi Arabia · Proposal · 2023

Ribbed 3D-printed Tutuncka lamp generated through a computational design system.

Tutuncka 2.0

Dubai, UAE · Built · Prototype · 2019

Mawj

Dubai, UAE · Built · 2020

Tall gradient 3D-printed floor lamp with a faceted lattice shade.

LATE Floor Lamp

Dubai, UAE · Built · 2021

Boundless Influence

Architecture across the Middle East and beyond.

UAE

Dubai

Sharjah

Sharjah Modern

Jebel Jais, Ras Al Khaimah

House 00

Abu Dhabi

3D Printed Majlis

Saudi Arabia

AlUla

Cosmos House

NEOM

Lamella

Jordan

Amman

ARID

Wadi Rum

Desert Pavilion

Spain

Barcelona

Repeat Wellness Club

USA

New York

The Migrant Kitchen

South Korea

Seoul

Yeoui-Naru Ferry Terminal

In the details, digital craftsmanship connects computational design with local material knowledge and cultural fabrication.

Repeat Wellness Club, Ceramic Wall Details

Repeat Wellness Club

The Migrant Kitchen, Connection Details

Send Location, Octagon Details

Deciduous, 3D Printing Details

Send Location, Infinity Mirror Detail

Mawj Chair, 3D Printing Process Detail

Luminescents, Lighting Details

Le Monde d'Hermès Kiosk

Modulus, 3D Printed Urban Furniture

Research Builds On Material Intelligence

Research at MEAN* asks how architecture can adapt to changing ways of living and what the region's building traditions can teach new construction methods, through digital studies, physical prototypes, teaching and exhibition proposals.

TED

Reimagining traditional architecture for modern needs

Riyad Joucka’s talk at TED in Dubai asks for homes designed around the people who live in them. It draws on 3D printing and on lessons from traditional building that answer to climate and culture.

Riyad Joucka speaking at TED in Dubai, October 2025. Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED

Assembled Identities Phase 2

20th International Architecture Exhibition at
La Biennale di Venezia, 2027

The second phase of a curatorial proposal for the National Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates: an exhibition staged as a real estate showroom, where visitors would combine a limited kit of domestic components into homes that differ.

Assembled Identities Phase 1

20th International Architecture Exhibition at
La Biennale di Venezia, 2027

As the UAE prepares to build new homes in large numbers, the first phase of the proposal asks how housing designed in series can still carry individual and cultural identity.

Additive Dialogues

Interview series on 3D printing, Zayed University fellowship

An interview series by Riyad Joucka with Prof. Adina Hempel, part of his Zayed University fellowship. Companies from WASP in Italy to Serendix in Japan discuss 3D printing, modular design and the majlis.

Permutable Assembly Phase 2

19th International Architecture Exhibition at
La Biennale di Venezia

A proposal for the National Pavilion of the UAE at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, 2025. It combines prefabricated concrete modules with large-scale 3D printing, so each home could be tailored to its owners at no extra cost.

Permutable Assembly Phase 1

19th International Architecture Exhibition at
La Biennale di Venezia

The first phase of Permutable Assembly, submitted in 2023. It starts from a generation that may never own a home and proposes a modular home type to make housing in the UAE more accessible.

Live Academy

Live Academy Design Technology Platform

An online platform for computational design education, developed by MEAL*. Practitioners teach classes in software such as Grasshopper and Blender, which students follow at their own pace.

MEAL*

Middle East Architecture Lab

The studio’s research arm. It runs short academic programs and workshops on new design technologies, among them the AA Visiting School Dubai.

Recognition

AD Middle East, AD100 2026: The Debuts

FRAME Awards 2026, Wellness Space of the Year shortlist: Repeat Wellness Club

Architizer A+ Awards 2026, Special Mention, Spa & Wellness: Repeat Wellness Club

CID Awards 2025, Interior Design of the Year: Retail, Highly Commended

ArchDaily’s Best New Practices, 2024

AD Middle East Design Award 2020, Winner, Innovation & Sustainability

Publications

“The further you go into this gym, the further you are from Barcelona”

“MEAN’s machines: Futuristic designs inspired by nature”

“The most significant 100 influencers of 2018/19”

“…already proving to be one of the most exciting architecture outfits in the Middle East.”

“Through Design, Jordan Aims to Position Itself as a Hub for Modern Arab Culture”

“10 emerging Jordanian designers shaping the future of the Middle East”

Commissions & Collaborations

MEAN* works with private clients and developers, as well as wellness and hospitality operators, brands and cultural institutions.

A conversation can begin with a site, an existing building or an early brief. Share the location, what you hope to achieve and the stage your project has reached.

Discuss A Project