Al Bahr Towers: The Abu Dhabi Investment Council Headquarters

摘要

This book tells the story of the design and construction of the landmark Al Bahr Towers in Abu Dhabi; the twin tower development for the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, who occupy one of the towers as their headquarters. The two nearly identical towers have a cactus-like appearance, with floor plates having a complex plan geometry formed by six circular arcs, and each floor plate varies in size. This is an example of design and construction of complex geometrical forms being made possible by software such as Gehry Technologies' much used programs. The use of such geometrical software, together with engineering analysis software, makes it widely possible throughout the construction industry, to refine and rework geometrically complex designs to a high degree of accuracy in a relatively short time. The Al Bahr Towers project is a notable example of an increasing desire to take advantage of computer technology to produce unusual and interesting forms, involving complex geometry. However, what makes this project different is the incorporation of a dynamic solar energy control system on the facade of the buildings. This sun shade system is the outer part of the facade system and comprises 1049 parasols on each tower, with each triangular shaped parasol individually opened or closed by electrically powered actuators; the degree of opening depending on the time of day and season, increasing or decreasing shading to the glazed curtain wall system behind them. It is the parasols, together with the geometry of the towers, which give the buildings a cactus-like appearance. This is not only a novel dynamic sun shading system of parasols, but because of the geometry of the buildings, the parasol geometry varies, and the geometry for one parasol unit is not used more than six times on a tower.