Shelter’s space is designed as an open-plan working environment to inspire our creative communities and facilitate networking opportunities. From our business centre located in our loft offices and our communal workspaces in the main area, to our brasserie, Zen-style garden, library, cinema, and store, we aim to provide you with the environment in which to convert social interaction into successful businesses.

In November 2009, the Middle Eastern arts organization Bidoun launched a new, monthly exhibition project aimed at highlighting the work of art photographers based in the UAE.

A wide range of images from the selected photographer’s portfolio are being shown each month on two flatscreen lightboxes at Shelter in Al Quoz. Bidoun selects photographers based in the UAE, focusing on those working independently, without the support of an agency or gallery. The Portfolio Project aims to provide an outlet for the many particularly talented and dynamic artists working with photography; for most this will be their first solo project exhibition in the Gulf.

Yasmin Mohammed is a self-described 'work-in-progress Visual Communicator/experimentor' who refuses to be labeled as a photographer, graphic designer or a filmmaker.. More

Music at Shelter is curated by discoballbreaker, a Dubai-based music & culture blog with a voracious appetite for peculiar sounds (hence the name). Inspired by this sometimes wonderful/sometimes infuriating city, the blog wholeheartedly believes in a soundtrack for every moment of every day.

Check the blog for daily musical musing discoballbreaker

Shelter hosts a Zen-style garden for the benefit of its members, to be used as an anti-space to the usual place of work. A simple and serene grass area containing chairs and beanbags, it offers a refuge where members can dine, relax, network or simply socialize outdoors.

Housing over a thousand books and magazines whose subject matter ranges in from architecture and art to lifestyle and other cultural interests. A body of reference texts, relevant to the various disciplines that Shelter caters for, members are entitled to take books to their respective workstations as and when they wish.

Shelter’s custom-designed mini-auditorium provides the necessary media required for full company presentations, whilst at the same time offering the comfort and warmth one would expect from a small art-house cinema. Private screenings, independent movies, documentaries and event-related films will be exclusive for members and residents of Shelter.