Sama UAE: entertainment website design for a shared-reality dome brand in Dubai

Sama UAE is the Dubai edition of the shared-reality dome brand, with a flagship in the DIFC, a second venue in Dubai Marina and a third in Business Bay, plus a Riyadh site on Al Reem Island. The edition is written in British English and speaks the market's language: AED prices with 5% VAT included, 12-hour times, DIFC and Financial Centre Metro, and a family-friendly, formal-warm voice. It follows the UAE PDPL and the Dubai Universal Design Code.

Project facts

• Client: Sama Entertainment FZ-LLC (fictional)
• Sector: Location-based entertainment, sports and live events
• Markets: Dubai (DIFC, Dubai Marina, Business Bay), Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, with more cities planned
• Services: Market localisation · Copywriting · Brand adaptation · Entertainment venue website design · Accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA) · SEO foundations
• Templates: 7 page templates shared with every Sama edition
• Stack: Hand-built HTML, CSS and vanilla JavaScript; one strings file and one theme file per market

The brief

Cinematic, hospitable and family-friendly

Dubai audiences book by venue and by time slot, often for the same evening, and expect prices with VAT included. The edition keeps the dome's atmosphere but adds a chef-led kitchen and a bar with signature mocktails, a rooftop Orbit Bar and a Dubai-specific What's On. The tone is premium and hospitable, and the imagery is chosen to be modest and family-friendly.

Designing for the UAE

What actually changed between the US and this edition

• Story - US edition: Austin parking lot, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami · UAE: Dubai parking lot, Abu Dhabi, flagship Dubai, Riyadh on Al Reem Island
• Venues - US edition: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Austin · UAE: DIFC, Dubai Marina, Business Bay, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh
• Prices - US edition: $ prices, sales tax added · UAE: AED 69 to AED 140, VAT included; mocktails from AED 50
• Dining - US edition: Restaurant and bar, short rib · UAE: Chef Dana Okafor's wood-fire menu, Orbit Bar mocktails, no alcohol-led framing
• Legal - US edition: FCC, FDA, OSHA, ADA · UAE: TDRA, Dubai Municipality Food Safety, MOHRE, Dubai Universal Design Code
• Look - US edition: After-dark ink, ember-to-amber, violet glow · UAE: Sand, night teal and champagne gold; Cormorant + Manrope
• Footer - US edition: US trade licence · UAE: © 2026 Sama Entertainment FZ-LLC. Trade licence 123456, Dubai.

Brand adaptation

The same Sama, with a local accent

Night teal carries the interface and champagne gold adds luxury to italics, with a lighter gold on dark panels. Cormorant brings grand display type; Manrope keeps the interface crisp. Corners stay sharp for a tailored feel, and the wordmark keeps Sama. Arabic typefaces are not yet chosen, but the system is ready for a future ar-AE edition.

Homepage and key journeys

The homepage opens on a full-bleed hero of a live show, then hands visitors to Upcoming at Sama Dubai. A kinetic marquee sets the rhythm, category tiles cover live sports watch parties, concert films, immersive cinema and art, and a dome showcase mirrors the 26.5 m venue. The most distinctive flow is the venue switcher: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh cards with opening hours and a waitlist for Riyadh, each leading to a venue hub with address, Financial Centre Metro, box office and a city-specific event rail.

Compliance, accessibility and trust

• Privacy policy under the UAE Personal Data Protection Law, with cookie notice accept/reject.
• Terms of sale with prices including 5% VAT and AED currency.
• Footer with demo trade licence 123456, Dubai, and a note on the Dubai Universal Design Code.
• Passes automated WCAG 2.2 AA checks on every page at 360, 390, 768 and 1440 px: no contrast failures, no unreachable controls, no horizontal scrolling.
• A language switcher built from hreflang sits in the header on desktop and in the footer on phones.

One system, twelve markets

Every visible string lives in one file per market, and every colour and typeface in one theme file. This edition needed no new templates or components: a strings file, a theme, regional photography and local legal content made it a different brand experience. For an entertainment venue group with international plans, a new market becomes a content project rather than a rebuild.

Deliverables

• Market profile: language, formats, legal and seasonality
• Full localised copy across 7 templates, header, footer and forms
• Brand adaptation: palette, type pairing and logo descriptor
• 30 regional photographs (Pexels, credited in credits.json)
• Local legal content
• Accessibility pass (WCAG 2.2 AA, automated) and QA at four screen widths
• Portfolio media: stills, full-page captures, scroll video, OG image, brand board