Winner Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa
Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
“The tower brings a commitment to sustainability directly into the heart of Abu Dhabi by raising the bar for energy and resource savings from design through building operation.” Abrar Sheriff, Juror, Turner Construction
Completion Date: December 2014 Height: 381 m (1,251 ft) Stories: 88 Area: Primary Function: Residential Developer: Aldar Properties Architect: Foster + Partners (design) Structural Engineer: Halvorson and Partners (design) MEP Engineer: ChapmanBDSP (design) Project Manager: Atkins Main Contractor: Arabian Construction Company Other Consultant: Arup (façade); Lerch Bates (vertical transportation); V3 Companies (civil)
Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid is located in the heart of Abu Dhabi at the site of the old Central Market, a traditional crossroads and meeting point in the city. The tower’s central location provides residents with easy access to major points of interest, including the nearby Mall at the World Trade Center and the Corniche, a waterfront promenade that runs along the coast. As part of the larger World Trade Center Abu Dhabi complex, Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid is the tallest element of a 700,000-square-meter mixed-use development, which also includes a 58-story office building and a planned 53-story hotel. The site also includes a traditional souk, up to seven levels of retail in the podium, a green roof above the market, and a bridge system linking these areas together. The tower, which was the second-tallest building in the world to complete during 2014, is intended to fit within its desert backdrop. A smooth, sleek, and reflective façade has been designed to require minimal amounts of maintenance in a dusty environment. The exterior
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envelope of the tower undulates in waves as it wraps around the core. This glass cladding creates a mirage effect that alludes to its geographic context.
Previous Spread Left: Overall view from southwest with the shorter office tower on right Right: Detailed view of the façade Current Spread Top: Interior view of garden space Above: Interior view of sky lobby Opposite Left: Floor plans: swimming pool, level 85 (top); penthouse, level 83 (middle); typical residential, levels 42–75 (bottom) Opposite Right: Context view from southwest
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The billowing design generates unique floor plans that deviate widely from those found in a typical tall building, resulting in an assortment of multiform spaces. Units on the lower floors have contemporary designs, with timber floors and open plan kitchen and living spaces. Higher up the tower are larger residences and amenities for residents. The apartment layouts maximize the open living space at the corner of the building, emphasizing its curvature and providing views in two directions. For future flexibility, many of the partition walls can be removed and the space reconfigured as required. Moving up through the tower, the materials become richer, and the high-rise apartments share a classic interior palette of stone, timber, and glass. The tower is crowned by a series of duplex apartments, with spectacular double-height volumes and incorporating accommodations for staff.
Jury Statement
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Amid the rapid skyscraper construction that has taken place in the Middle East over the past two decades, a variety of architectural styles have been borrowed and adapted from other regions to suit its culture, environment, and regulatory conditions. The Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid is no such example, and serves as a true regional exercise that establishes a genuine vernacular style. Nearly every detail of the project is suited to the specific needs and identity of the area, from a highly reflective façade that requires minimal maintenance, to heat mitigation strategies that promote comfortable interior temperatures.
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The shape of the tower’s floor plates are like none that have ever been seen before. The rippling effect of the exterior – much more than just an experiment in form – translates into fluid living spaces that are as spacious as they are unique. As a new landmark for Abu Dhabi and an anchor for the larger World Trade Center complex, energy-efficient technology was not only considered important, but deemed critically fundamental to the overall design process. A ventilated three-skin façade, operable windows, internal shading, and a solar array contribute to the overall success of the project.
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A number of design elements have been integrated into the building in order to increase its energy efficiency, including solar collectors and a ventilated three-skin façade. Meanwhile, layers of internal shading control glare and unwanted heat gain, and the façade comprises 50 percent high-insulation cladding. The towers are oriented to reduce solar insolation, and the roof was designed to allow for the future installation of solar panels. Energy is provided by a site-wide energy center, and natural ventilation is encouraged
by operable windows. The automated control of shared services throughout helps to regulate energy use, and water saving fixtures are installed to promote water conservation. Additionally, the landscaping incorporates species that thrive in the local climate to minimize irrigation and conserve water, and local building materials were used wherever possible during construction to reduce the economic and environmental costs of transporting imported materials.
“The undulating perimeter is akin to a silky fabric wrapped around a skyscraper. It makesthe tower very soft, seductive, and elegant. The sliced extruded form creates a very compelling silhouette on the Abu Dhabi city skyline.” Mun Summ Wong, Jury Chair, WOHA Architects
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Opposite: Overall context view from southwest Right: Building section through podium market place with towers in elevation
The architectural concept for Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid presented several challenges for its structural design. The key challenge was the slenderness of the building form – the height-to-width ratio for the tower is approximately 13:1. Secondly, the perimeter of the tower undulates, precluding structural systems such as a perimeter framed tube or a braced tube that could take advantage of the entire width of the building in resisting wind loads. Lastly, there was a strong desire for a nearly structure-free exterior wall, maximizing interior transparency and preserving views. The structural concept was developed to address all of these challenges. The tower’s lateral load resisting system consists of reinforced concrete walls around the elevators and stairs in the central core, forming a stiff “spine” resisting lateral loads as well as providing the tower’s torsional stiffness. Reinforced concrete outrigger and belt walls are located at three mechanical plant floors over the height of the building. These outrigger and belt walls link the core to the reinforced concrete perimeter columns allowing the lateral overturning forces to be resisted by the entire width of the tower, even though there is essentially no structure around the perimeter. Wall-columns, designed to be thin and hidden in the room partitions, line the perimeter so that an absolute minimum of exterior perimeter is blocked by structure.
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