The 160-metre Capital Gate tower, developed by the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company, leans at 18 degrees over four times the angle of Italy's famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Khaleej Times reported.
ADNEC said the tower earned the record following an evaluation by Guinness World Records that began in January, the month the tower's exterior was completed, Gulf News reported.
Capital Gate was designed from the get-go to take an angled stance, unlike the Tower of Pisa, which slanted over with time.
The 35-storey tower's 18-degree angle is achieved by staggering the floor plates from the 12th floor up, the newspaper added.
The tower is expected to be completed in late 2010 and will house a five-star hotel and offices.
The United Arab Emirates is home to another world record building, the 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which is the tallest building in the world.
Some Trivia about Capital Gate:
- Use Office, Hotel
- Roof 160 m (525 ft)
- Floor count 35
- Architect(s) RMJM Dubai
- Contractor Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises
- Owner Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company
- Management MACE
- The gravitational pressure caused by the 18 degree incline is countered by the world's first "pre-cambered core"; a central core which slants in the opposite direction to the tower's inline, straightening as it grows.
- Capital Gate is also anchored to the Earth by 490 piles which are drilled over 30m deep.
- The building has an extra-ordinary exoskeleton or ‘diagrid’ to absorb and channel the forces created by wind and seismic pressure as well as the gradient of Capital Gate.
- Each and every element of the grid is unique in geometry. Capital Gate is thought to be the Middle East's first building to use a diagrid, others around the world include London's 30 St Mary Axe (Gherkin), New York's Hearst Tower and Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium
Other elements of Capital Gate include:
- Each room is different as is each pane of façade glass and every interior angle.
- CAPITAL GATE’s shell comprises a super-strong exo-skeleton called the diagrid that carries all the weight of the floors while also providing an unobstructed floor plate precluding the need for pillars or internal beams. Other high-profile buildings that use diagrid technology include New York’s Hearst Tower, the Swiss Re building (‘The Gherkin’) in London and Beijing’s CCTV tower.
- CAPITAL GATE’s double-glazed façade achieves greater energy efficiency with waste air being pre-cooled between the inner and outer façades, before being expelled.
- The tower’s façade glass is of low emissivity and is the first time it has been used in the UAE. It keeps the building’s interior cool and eliminates glare, while maintaining transparency.
- The distinctive stainless steel ‘splash’ that descends from the 19th floor, is a design element and a shading device that eliminates over 30 percent of the sun’s heat before it reaches the building. The splash also twists around the building towards the south to shield the tower as much as possible from direct sunlight.
- CAPITAL GATE’s 19th storey outdoor swimming pool has an unrivalled panoramic view.
- A cantilevered tea lounge overhangs the tower’s exterior, 80m above the ground.
- CAPITAL GATE also has an internal diagrid that has been used to create a tapered, 60m high atrium.
- The tower’s foundation is a dense mesh of reinforced steel above 490 piles, drilled 20 - 30 meters underground.
Trivia Src: [Wikipedia]
No comments:
Post a Comment