Christmas in the Desert: Designing Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi's Winter Spectacular

Inside the central-plaza stage and clock tower designed by Patrick Larsen and Studio Bound for Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi's 2022 Winter Spectacular — built for a season, kept as a landmark.

A theme park asks for something a one-night show never does: it has to look perfect on the hundredth visit, not just the first.

At Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, my studio and I designed the central stage and clock tower in the park's main plaza, built for the 2022 Winter Spectacular. It was meant to be seasonal. It stayed.

A centrepiece, not a backdrop

We gave the plaza a vintage-Hollywood focal point — a stage and an ornate clock tower that anchor the space and set the tone of the area before a single performer appears. In a themed park, the architecture is doing as much of the work as the show is.

Vintage-Hollywood clock tower and stage in the park plaza — The clock tower and stage gave the park's main plaza a vintage-Hollywood focal point.

Built to be kept

It was made for one season and then stayed, still hosting shows. Nobody kept it out of sentiment — they kept it because it worked.

Central stage and clock tower kept as a permanent fixture — Created for the 2022 Winter Spectacular, the central stage and clock tower became a permanent fixture in the park.

Designing for the hundredth visit

A permanent build asks a different question than a one-off — not whether it works tonight, but whether it still works on the hundredth visit. That means thinking about wear, weather and maintenance from the first sketch. Most of the design work is the unglamorous part.