Dubai’s neighbour, Ajman, has just unveiled an elegant and contemporary building by French architect Annabel Karim Kassar. Veronica Simpson hopes it signifies a shift in the region’s architectural sensibilities: could thoughtful and classy architecture be the new bling?

Words Veronica Simpson Photography Tony Elieh

It is hard to know what is more shocking - that next to the gleaming, carbon-guzzling city-state of Dubai there is wildlife and 'nature' that has been preserved in all its raw beauty, or that a really thoughtful, elegant, modern building has been commissioned to mark out this hitherto-ignored mangrove swamp, populated by pink flamingos, as a place of significance.

The Entertainment Center roof is clad with pre-weathered zinc shingle laid on a wooden sub frame

Thoughtful and elegant are not words that spring to mind when describing Dubai's cityscape. After a brief lull in its skyscraper construction, between 2008 and 2011, new buildings now appear to be erupting every day - like a particularly nasty outbreak of glazed veruccas. Dubai's urban landscape lacks any sense of the vernacular, with endless parades of American-style shopping malls and boulevards of bloated 'brand' hotels - giant mock-European palaces on steroids - with just the odd minaret peeping through. The outskirts of Dubai are a duller, smaller, more horizontal version of the same alien townscape, with dusty mass-housing complexes interspersed with cheaply built mock Moorish mansions, their bulky sandstone towers and battlements bristling with mirrored green glass.

Driving out of Dubai on the main motorway, it is easy to miss the Al Zorah pavilion. But approached from the quieter Ajman - the UAE's smallest state, with no oil wealth, so really more of a dormitory town for Dubai - you see the pavilion as it is intended: a building to make you pause and look out on to what might easily have been mistaken for yet more scrubland and desert. This is when you notice the swamps and their pale-pink inhabitants.

The folding planes of the roof structure and north elevation were vaguely inspired by Oriental rugs

The Al Zorah pavilion is the first built evidence of what its developer, Al Zorah Development Company (AZDC), hopes will become a new premium resort for leisure travellers to the UAE. The pavilion's function is multipurpose: a visitor and events space dedicated to cultural events and promotions as well as wildlife, with a 150-seater auditorium/screening room, a permanent exhibition space, visitor cafe and rooftop guest apartment. But its symbolism is clear: it is designed to give a more sophisticated identity to Ajman - one that differentiates it from its bigger, brasher, richer neighbours Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Facing north, the pavilion embraces only the marshy landscape ahead. Its cranked roofline starts at the south-facing base and marches up and over the building, like a scaly, cupped hand. Its back is thus turned towards the road, blocking out the harshest rays of the sun, and giving occupants panoramic views over these modest mangrove swamps. The building's lack of exterior dazzle maximises appreciation of the subtle colourings of the swamp and its delicately tinted denizens, as does the tilted, dark-glass front elevation, with its glass curtain wall presenting a smooth, reflective surface on to the surroundings.

A non-reflective dark glass was chosen to match the grey zinc tiles of roof; the glass is cut according to a specific grid to create an interesting rhythm

French architect Annabel Karim Kassar has a knack for translating the rhythms of Arabic geometry into contemporary architectural forms, as evidenced in her sumptuous interiors for various global iterations of Moroccan restaurant Momo. She also has a strong track record in the Middle East through major regeneration projects in Beirut, restoring and reviving beautiful old bombed-out buildings as well as creating new landmark ones - a real act of faith, considering Lebanon's continuing turbulence.

Given the more considered, European sensibility of this pavilion, it comes as no surprise to _ nd that the development company that initially commissioned it is one with a more occidental (rather than Middle Eastern) outlook - Lebanese company Solidere, _ rst brought Kassar to Beirut to help transform its bombed-out souks in 1994 (AZDC is a joint venture between Solidere and the Ajman government). Kassar says she was given a completely free rein to devise a new kind of architectural icon for the region.

Kassar's inspiration for this building, she says, was simply to create a canopy, framing the best view on to the swamps. 'There was nothing else to draw on, just a platform going out into the mangroves. But we needed to make it the first building you really noticed. It couldn't be a square thing.' The folding planes of the north elevation and roof structure were vaguely inspired by Oriental carpets, but the detailing was originally envisaged as a decorative pattern of coloured ceramic and metal tiles that would be illuminated from inside at night.

Black granite paving tiles are used all around the perimeter and external stairs, their triangular patterning creating a resonance with the roof tiles

This feature had to be value-engineered out and the zinc tiles substituted when the project was revived, albeit on a tighter budget, after three years in the doldrums. But the more economic solution is, if anything, an improvement - the quiet, silver-grey colouring of the tiles draws attention to the beautiful geometry of their 'diamond-style' arrangement, wrapping right around the edge of the road-facing roof to curve back under the building.

This quality of finish and attention to detail is woven throughout the project. It is evident in the black granite paving tiles used all around the perimeter and on the exterior staircase - sandblasted to a subtle 'velvet' finish rather than the super-sleek gloss of every Dubai shopping mall or hotel lobby. Their triangular patterning creates a rich visual resonance with the roof tiles. The same geometry is replicated elsewhere in the building - right down to the choice and placement of ceiling lights and even the exterior lights that throw slim beams across the roof at night in a 'tartan' criss-cross effect.

Set overlooking natural mangrove swamps and flamingoes, the Al Zorah Pavilion provides a multifunctional visitor and events space

Bespoke handrails were designed by Kassar's studio to flow around the 2km of walkways and, on the top-floor terrace, handrails are set 1m back from the edge so that they don't interrupt the building's profile. Kassar says: 'For us it was really an exercise in keeping the quality of the building, spending a lot of time to find the right detail at the right price.'

This aspirational new landmark very nearly didn't happen. Conceived in 2007, the concrete shell had already been built when the Dubai economy took a massive nosedive and Solidere halted construction in 2009. When the scheme was revived in 2012, the original pavilion had to be adapted to suit the requirements of the new backer (Al Zorah), which wanted office space on the first floor for its staff, plus a guest apartment instead of the originally planned rooftop visitor cafe and terrace.

The building almost never happened, and was held at the concrete shell stage for some three years

So it was back to the drawing board for Kassar, who managed to insert an elegant foyer in the west side the building for a lift to the private apartment and rejig the plan to provide cafe, terrace and catering spaces around or in the event and exhibition areas, while ensuring smooth flows of entry and exit for all users.

Though this region isn't known for its appreciation of modest contemporary buildings, Kassar has been delighted with the response of locals as well as regional officials. She is designing at least two more of the site's major buildings: a golf course clubhouse on a small hilltop opposite her Al Zorah pavilion, plus a spa/wellbeing centre. These will also be 'strong forms' she says, part of a family of Annabel Karim Kassar buildings. From recent reports of international architects' more 'organic' interventions in this region, it looks like there will soon be a welcome diversity of DNA in the architectural gene pool. But just remember: when it comes to thoughtful and appropriate, this building, and this architect, got there first. Lebanese developer Solidere has long been working on the dramatic reimagining of Beirut's central district, replacing the irreparably bomb-damaged ancient souks with five new schemes utilising the talents of several international and Lebanese architects, including Annabel Karim Kassar.

Rafael Moneo's core souks project completed first (see profile, page 64), and Kassar's entertainment and retail complex for the North Souks area finished at the end of 2013. In collaboration with major French practice Valode et Pistre, Kassar's scheme is envisaged as a continuation of the area's vibrant street-level retail scene.

A horizontal deck of limestone and glass retail units forms the ground floor, with 10 cinemas inside. The upper part is composed of golden metal ribbons wrapping the four big cinema/ theatres from north to south. These generate a dynamic sculptural form that gives the Entertainment Center a strong identity. Framed within the outer 'ribbons' are porous backlit facades to evoke the Mousharabieh of traditional Moorish screens. Kassar, whose work often explores the sensual interplay of light and texture, has her own lighting design company, CAI, through which she created a series of video light installations.

The central lobby features a food court and ticketing office. The upper storey finish is alucarbon with copper, giving a bronze shimmer to the building to add to its night-time allure.