Yataghan Blades

Over the past 20 years, Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, has changed dramatically. Now, it is quite up-to-date city with regular urban scheme made up by six transport mains featuring multiple skyscrapers, many of which were built in 1990s. Soon the list of local real estate offerings will be complemented with the Empire Tower, 60-storey residential building, which is being erected at the waterfront.

In 2006, the Empire Holdings approached Aedas, the well-known global architecture practice, to work on a design for a prime 7,013 squaremetre plot near the Abu Dhabi coastline. Bordered by three major streets, the site is part of a larger masterplan. It was vitally important to the client, therefore, that the design ‘cut through’ with a singular visual presence, but not ‘push the envelope’ so far as to emerge as a mere architectural caricature. The concern is that the residential project was located in the middle of a masterplan filled with potential icons.

The 60 non-typical floor plates are dynamically held together by the “blades”, creating an iconic feature on the water’s edge. Empire Tower would have to leave its imprint without trying too hard. Led by design director Andrew Bromberg at Aedas, the team began their design effort by intensively scrutinising the site and discovering the challenges and advantages it posed. Among the latter are ocean views to the northeast and park views to the southwest. Among the former was the immediate presence to one side of the site of a large commercial tower.

The Empire Tower evolved its response to both through an outstanding balance of form and alignment. The design challenges the limitations for high-rise residential development, requiring the services and structural elements to stack vertically. The project is designed to work within these limitations, while creating a dynamic form. The design standardizes the units to accommodate the client request but manipulates the section to develop a very dynamic solution, which holds its own amidst the visual clutter of its neighbors. This was deemed important for the financial viability of this project that is dependent on pre-sales within a very competitive market.

Client: Empire Holdings
Building height: 238 m
Site area: 7012 sq. m

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Information provided by Aedas