Tower among tallest in the country; architect going for LEED Certification
MIAMI, July 24 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Designed to take full advantage of the commanding views of the Persian Gulf and Abu Dhabi, international architecture firm Arquitectonica has designed Sky Tower -- the 300-meter (83-story) first tower in The Gate development -- to be the tallest tower in Abu Dhabi and the fifth tallest in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The tower aspires to be the first building in the UAE to achieve certification under the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating.
Sky Tower along with the five 62-story and two 31-story towers comprise "The Gate" a project on Reem Island with almost 1 million square meters of luxury, state-of-the-art residential and commercial spaces, designed to provide a home in the sky, providing expansive views of the island and coast.
The property is owned and developed by the Sorouh Real Estate Development, which won the "Best Developer -- Commercial Project Award" for the Gate at the Cityscape Abu Dhabi awards ceremony in May 2007. When completed the Gate will contain 810,000 square meters (2,657,480 SF) of residential space, 105,000 square meters (344,488 SF) of office space and 13,500 square meters (44,291 SF) of retail space.
"The urban significance of the site as the visual gateway to a new city required a corresponding architectural response," said Bernardo Fort-Brescia, FAIA, Arquitectonica’s founder and the project’s design architect. "We created a monumental portico with a tall elliptical tower rising above it to announce the island from afar. The elliptical form makes it multidirectional, intended to be seen from land and sea, city and island. Its cantilevered bay windows stack vertically and stagger in movement, speeding towards the skies and forming a series of interior rooms that project into pure space."
OF SPECIAL NOTE:
-- The complex offers a total of more than 4,600 residential units with
underground parking, gardens and event terraces.
-- Residential floor areas range from one bedroom of 87 square meters
(936 SF) to penthouses of 514 square meters (5,525 SF).
-- Arquitectonica Interiors is the project’s interior designer and
Arquitectonica GEO is the project’s landscape architect.
Arquitectonica is a full-service architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and planning firm that began 30 years ago in Miami. Today, the firm has 500 employees and designs many building types including Cultural/Institutional, Education, Government/Public, Hospitality, Interiors, Mixed Use, Office, Planning, Public Assembly/Sports, Residential, Retail/Restaurant and Transportation.
Arquitectonica ( http://www.arquitectonica.com ) is directed by offices in Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Madrid, Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Manila, Lima, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. Affiliated companies: Arquitectonica Interiors ( http://www.arquitectonicainteriors.com ) and Arquitectonica GEO ( http://www.arquitectonicageo.com ).
NOTE TO EDITORS:
IMAGES AVAILABLE BY REQUEST AT pressrequest@arquitectonica.com.
