flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Goettsch Partners designs new tower in Abu Dhabi

Goettsch Partners designs new tower in Abu Dhabi

Al Hilal Bank’s 24-story flagship development provides contemporary office space.


By Posted by Tim Gregorski, Senior Editor | September 7, 2012
The 24-story tower totals 87,570 square meters overall, including 49,110 square
The 24-story tower totals 87,570 square meters overall, including 49,110 square meters of office and retail space.

Architecture firm Goettsch Partners (GP) designed the flagship commercial development for Al Hilal Bank in the heart of Abu Dhabi’s Al Maryah Island, formerly known as Sowwah Island. The new office tower is located in the Emirate’s developing new central business district, with direct access to three main island roads and the nearby Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Sowwah Square, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange headquarters, and the Rosewood Abu Dhabi hotel.

The 24-story tower totals 87,570 square meters overall, including 49,110 square meters of office and retail space, and 1,000 parking spaces for tenants and visitors. The building will be serviced by a multi-tiered transportation infrastructure, which includes a planned light rail station.

The podium contains a retail banking facility as well as a dramatic three-story transparent lobby to the north, with pedestrian arcades on the east and west. Three cubical masses sit atop the podium, stacked like shifted blocks. Designed to set the building apart from other towers on Al Maryah Island while also providing optimally efficient, column-free spaces within, these forms derive their interest from a “push-and-pull” effect at the corners. In addition, the building’s façade changes at the created voids to accentuate the shifted aesthetic. The façade consists of an aluminum-and-glass curtain wall system with glass and notched metal-spandrel elements and vertical glass fins that enhance the building’s verticality while also providing shading.

A landscaped park and reflecting pool along the building’s western façade will draw traffic to the retail and main building entry by creating an inviting, shaded urban space. Café seating for tenants and visitors will further help activate the setting. Completion of the development is scheduled for the last quarter of 2013. +

Related Stories

| Feb 15, 2012

Code allowance offers retailers and commercial building owners increased energy savings and reduced construction costs

Specifying air curtains as energy-saving, cost-cutting alternatives to vestibules in 3,000-square-foot buildings and larger has been a recent trend among consulting engineers and architects.

| Feb 15, 2012

Englewood Construction announces new projects with Destination Maternity, American Girl

Englewood’s newest project for Wisconsin-based doll retailer American Girl, the company will combine four vacant storefronts into one large 15,000 square-foot retail space for American Girl.

| Feb 14, 2012

Angelo State University opens doors to new recreation center expansion

  Designed by SmithGroup, the JJR_Center for Human Performance offers enhanced fitness options, dynamic gathering space.

| Feb 14, 2012

SAIC selected for architectural and engineering design services at Lajes Field, Azores

SAIC’s services will include a broad variety of new construction projects and maintenance and repair projects

| Feb 14, 2012

Skanska promotes Aparicio and hires Leintz in Southern California

Aparicio and Leintz are both based in Skanska’s Los Angeles office.

| Feb 14, 2012

The Jackson Laboratory announces Gilbane Building Co. as program manager for Connecticut facility

Gilbane to manage program for new genomic medicine facility that will create 300 jobs in Connecticut.

| Feb 14, 2012

Thornton Tomasetti names Al Hashimi vice president for its Middle East Operations

Al Hashimi is joining the company to help expand Thornton Tomasetti’s business in the region and support clients locally.

| Feb 13, 2012

WHR Architects renovation of Morristown Memorial Hospital Simon Level 5 awarded LEED Gold

Located in the Simon Building, which serves as the main entrance leading into the Morristown Memorial Hospital campus, the project comprises three patient room wings connected by a centralized nursing station and elevator lobby.

| Feb 13, 2012

Center for Sustainable Building Research launches CommercialWindows.org

Resource aims at reducing commercial operating costs and energy consumption.

| Feb 13, 2012

New medical city unveiled in Abu Dhabi

SOM’s design for the 838-bed, three-million-square foot complex creates a new standard for medical care in the region.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Urban Planning

Bridging the gap: How early architect involvement can revolutionize a city’s capital improvement plans

Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) typically span three to five years and outline future city projects and their costs. While they set the stage, the design and construction of these projects often extend beyond the CIP window, leading to a disconnect between the initial budget and evolving project scope. This can result in financial shortfalls, forcing cities to cut back on critical project features.



Libraries

Reasons to reinvent the Midcentury academic library

DLR Group's Interior Design Leader Gretchen Holy, Assoc. IIDA, shares the idea that a designer's responsibility to embrace a library’s history, respect its past, and create an environment that will serve student populations for the next 100 years.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021