AL-BAHR TOWERS

BY-

JYOTI AHLAWAT

SAJIDA SHAH

SONALI JAIN

TSERING CHOEZOM

--- A STANDOUT LANDMARK FOR THE CITY OF

ABU DHABI.

ARCHITECT: Aedas Architects

CONSTRUCTION COMPANY: Al-Futtaim Carillion

FOUNDER: Council Investment Abu Dhabi

YEAR OF DESIGN: 2008

YEAR OF CONSTRUCTION: 2009-2012

ROOF HEIGHT: 145.1 m

TOP FLOOR HEIGHT: 120.0 m

FLOORS: 27 + 2 basement levels

LAND AREA: 100.080 m²

FLOOR AREA: 56.000 m²

LOCATION: ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB

EMIRATES

COORDINATES: 24° 27' 23" N, 54° 24' 4" E

CLIMATE: HOT DESERT CLIMATE

HIGHEST TEMP:120 DEGREE FAHRENHEIT

•THE CITY HAS INTENSIVE SUNSHINE

ALL YEAR LONG WITH LESS CHANCES OF RAIN.

•In such extreme weather conditions, the environmental design is the first priority on the design agenda.

N

N

Entry/Exit

SITE PLANNING: TWO TWIN OFFICE TOWERS FACING SOUTH ARE PLACED ON SITE

CONNECTED BY SKYWALK

CONCEPT

•THE DESIGN CONCEPT IS BASED ON THE FUSION BETWEEN BIO-INSPIRATION, REGIONAL

ARCHITECTURE, AND PERFORMANCE-BASED TECHNOLOGY.

•CIRCLES AND ORBITS ARE USED TO REFLECT THE CONCEPT OF UNIFICATION AND UNITY

EVIDENT IN NATURE.

PRINCIPLES

• DESIGN PRICNCIPLE IS TO ACHIEVE A PERFORMANCE ORIENTED, CULTURALLY RELEVANT,

TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED, AND AESTHETICALLY INTRIGUING BUILDING.

PLANNING

•BASED ON SIX TANGENTIAL ARCS,TAKEN

FROM THREE INTERSECTING CIRCLES

•A PATTERN WHICH FORMS THE BASIS OF

NEARLY ALL GEOMETRIC

CONFIGURATIONS KNOWN TO THE

REGION.

•The design for the project began with two simple cylinders, because the circular plan giving

the most efficient floor area usage while also creating the greatest volume with the least

surface area which will highly reduce the sun exposure surface area .

•An integrated building model consisting both the geometry of the buildings and the mashrabiya shading devices

• THE DESIGN IS BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF ADAPTIVE

FLOWERS AND THE "MASHRABIYA" - A WOODEN LATTICE

SHADING SCREEN

•A DYNAMIC AND SENSITIVE SHADING SCREEN ACTING

AS' MASHRABIYA “

•SECONDARY SKIN FILTERS THE LIGHT AND REDUCES

GLARE.

•POWERED BY RENEWABLE ENERGY DERIVED FROM

PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS.

•WRAPS GIANT LATTICE ALMOST TWO TOWERS

COMPLETELY EXCEPT FOR THE AREA NORTH-FACING

FACADES.

SCREENS

AL- BAHR TOWER SCREEN’S MODULE

•AS THE SUN RISES IN THE MORNING IN THE EAST, THE

MASHRABIYA ALONG THIS SIDE OF THE BUILDING WILL

BEGIN TO CLOSE, AND WHEN THE SUN MOVES AROUND

THE BUILDING, ALL VERTICAL STRIP MASHRABIYA

MOVE WITH THE SUN.

•AT NIGHT ALL SCREENS FOLD, ALLOWING MORE OF

THE FACADE.

AL BAHR TOWER IN DAY TIME AL BAHR TOWER AT NIGHT

TORRES - "COCOON BUILDINGS"

•BASED ON A PRE-RATIONALIZED GEOMETRIC SHAPE, TUNED VIA PARAMETRIC DESIGN TOOLS TO

ACHIEVE THE OPTIMAL RATIO OF SURFACE BETWEEN THE WALLS AND FLOOR.

•FORM OF THE TOWERS IS OPTIMIZED TO COMPLEMENT THE SHADING SYSTEM.

•THE DESIGN STARTED WITH TWO SIMPLE CYLINDERS,

CIRCULAR, YIELDING THE MOST EFFICIENT IN TERMS OF

"AREA-TO-FLOOR WALL", CREATING MORE VOLUME WITH

LESS SURFACE.

•THEN, A CIRCULAR SHAPE IS DIVIDED BASED ON A

COMBINATION OF CIRCULAR GEOMETRIES TO REDUCE

SOLAR EXPOSURE, AND IT STARTED TO GENERATE A

NATURAL ORIENTATION.

•THE SHAPE OF THE TOWERS WAS THEN SCULPTED

AROUND THE CORE, NARROWER AT THE BASE AND AT THE

TOP, WIDER AROUND THE INTERMEDIATE FLOORS.

EVOLUTION

•EACH UNIT COMPRISES A SERIES OF PANELS STRETCHED PTFE (POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE)

AND IS DRIVEN BY A LINEAR ACTUATOR TO PROGRESSIVELY OPEN AND CLOSE ONCE PER DAY, IN

RESPONSE TO A PRE-PROGRAMMED SEQUENCE THAT IS CALCULATED TO AVOID DIRECT

SUNLIGHT TO FROM THE MOMENT IT HITS THE FACADE .

•COMPUTER-CONTROLLED,

• OPERATES AS A CURTAIN WALL,

•READY TO TWO METERS OF THE EXTERIOR FACADE OF BUILDINGS, IN A SEPARATE FRAME.

•EACH TRIANGLE IS COATED WITH MICRO FIBERGLASS

•PROGRAMMED TO RESPOND TO THE MOVEMENT OF THE SUN.

•IT IS AN ANCIENT TECHNIQUE USED IN A MODERN WAY

•THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS PROTECTED BY A VARIETY OF SENSORS THAT OPEN THE UNITS IN CASE

CONDITIONS CHANGE, OR RAISE TO CLOUD WINDS.

•GEOMETRIC PATTERNS THAT MAKE UP THIS GIANT SCREEN INCLUDE MORE THAN 1,000

MOBILE ELEMENTS THAT CONTRACT AND EXPAND DURING THE DAY, DEPENDING ON THE SUN

POSITION.

PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS

•ROOFS FACING SOUTH EACH TOWER

INCORPORATE PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS.

•GENERATING APPROXIMATELY FIVE PERCENT OF

THE TOTAL ENERGY REQUIRED RENEWABLE

ENERGY SOURCES, USED FOR HEATING WATER.

•THE TOWERS HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE FIRST

BUILDINGS IN THE GULF THAT RECEIVED A LEED

SILVER RATING.

•A BESPOKE APPLICATION WAS DEVELOPED USING JAVASCRIPT AND ADVANCED PARAMETRIC

TECHNOLOGIES TO SIMULATE THE MOVEMENT OF THE FAÇADE IN RESPONSE TO THE SUN’S

PATH.

•THE PERFORMANCE CRITERIA AND GEOMETRY BUILD-UP OF THE SYSTEM DESIGN WERE

CONVEYED USING A UNIQUE PROJECT SPECIFIC, GEOMETRY CONSTRUCTION & PERFORMANCE

MANUAL.

•THIS FREED THE DESIGN-TO-CONSTRUCTION PROCESS FROM LOCKING IT DOWN TO CERTAIN

PLATFORMS AND COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES AND OFFERED A UNIVERSAL DATA EXCHANGE

LANGUAGE, ENABLING ALL PARTIES TO COMMUNICATE MORE EFFECTIVELY.

DAYLIGHT ANALYSIS FOR SCREENS

IN DIVA AND GRASSHOPPER

.

•IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE SCREEN REDUCES SOLAR GAIN IN MORE THAN 50% AND REDUCES THE

NEED FOR AIR CONDITIONING

•SCREENS ABILITY TO FILTER LIGHT HAS ALLOWED TO BE MORE SELECTIVE IN THE CHOICE OF

GLASS.

•THIS ALLOWS US TO USE MORE NATURALLY TINTED GLASS, WHICH ALLOWS MORE LIGHT INSIDE

AND LESS NEED FOR ARTIFICIAL LIGHT.

•THE INTELLIGENT FACADE, TOGETHER WITH SOLAR THERMAL PANELS FOR HOT-WATER HEATING

AND PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS ON THE ROOF, MINIMIZE THE NEED FOR INTERNAL LIGHTING AND

COOLING, ALTOGETHER REDUCING TOTAL CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS BY OVER 1750 TONS PER

YEAR.

•FOR THE PROJECT’S SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING AND SENSITIVE CULTURAL AND URBAN

APPROACH, THE TOWERS WERE AWARDED THE 2012 TALL BUILDING INNOVATION AWARD.