Abu Dhabi's iconic tower reaches final height of 160 metres
Abu Dhabi, 15th October 2009: Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi's iconic leaning tower, has topped out its central core and reached its final height of 160 metres, marking one of the most significant milestones in its construction.
Capital Gate leans an incredible 18 degrees (14 degrees more than the famous leaning tower of Pisa). It is being developed by Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) and has been designed by global architects RMJM. The tower forms the focal point of the Capital Centre development, an AED8 billion business and residential micro city being constructed around the thriving Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
"Capital Gate is an excellent example of what can be achieved when vision, creativity, design and engineering combine effectively with a partnership approach among team members. I am pleased at the steady progress being made on Capital Gate and would like to commend everyone involved in bringing this amazing and complex project to life. We look forward to working with RMJM, and Al Habtoor, the contractors of Capital Gate, to ensure the development is delivered to the people of Abu Dhabi over the course of the next year," said Simon Horgan, Group CEO of ADNEC.
RMJM's ?Associate Director, Tony Archibold, said: "Topping out the core is a major milestone to achieve. We still have challenges to face, but with the meticulous planning and recording that we have implemented throughout the construction, the pathway to successful completion is very much in sight."
Elaborating on the complexity involved in the completion of the core, Archibold explained that the core slants in opposite direction to the lean of the building, straightening as it grows. "This has never been attempted anywhere in the world before," he said.
Capital Gate will house Abu Dhabi's first Hyatt hotel - Hyatt at Capital Centre, a presidential style luxury 5 star hotel which will provide 189 hotel rooms for visitors and exhibitors at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, as well as international business and leisure travellers. It will also be the location for the most exclusive office space in the capital.
Level 18 of Capital Gate will feature a cantilevered tea lounge, which projects out over the eastern portion of the facade, and on top of which is an open sun terrace and pool with a sweeping view of Abu Dhabi and the Gulf.
Due to its unique shape, Capital Gate is being constructed on top of a concrete raft with a dense mesh of reinforced steel. The tower comprises of a complex steel diagrid, which sits above an extensive distribution of 490 piles that have been drilled 30m underground to accommodate gravitational, wind and seismic pressures. The angles and dimensions of the building have been measured and designed meticulously to ensure that each individually shaped diagrid accurately defines the shape of this magnificent structure.
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About Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC)
Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) is a strategic international venue development and management company. ADNEC's venue portfolio includes one of the most modern exhibition centre's in the world - the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, and the UK capital's largest exhibition and conference venue, ExCeL London.
ADNEC is creating unique business districts to serve Abu Dhabi's rapid expansion and emergence on the global stage.
Development projects surrounding the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre include Capital Centre (a mixed-use development of 23 residential, commercial and mixed-use towers adjacent to the exhibition centre), Capital Gate (an iconic 35 storey gravity defying feature tower, featuring the 5-star hotel - 'Hyatt at Capital Centre') and a 2.4km Marina zone.
In addition, ADNEC is expanding within the region, with The Al Ain Convention Centre, a residential and business micro city around a state-of-the-art convention centre.
For more information visit www.adnec.ae; www.alaincc.ae; www.capitalcentre.ae; www.capitalgate.ae; www.excel-london.co.uk;
About RMJM
RMJM is a UK-based international firm of architects with offices throughout the UK, Asia, the Middle East and the USA. Founded in 1956 by renowned British architects Robert Matthew and Stirrat Johnson-Marshall, today RMJM is one of the world's largest architectural practices and employs almost 1000 people in 16 international offices in Abu Dhabi, Cambridge, Dubai, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Moscow, New York, Philadelphia, Princeton, Shanghai, Singapore, St Petersburg and Washington D.C. RMJM's expertise and design-led approach is successfully demonstrated in on-going projects in more than 20 countries spanning a wide range of key sectors, from corporate headquarters and waterfront residential developments to major public buildings, university campuses and large-scale regeneration programmes. The company currently has over US $15 billion worth of construction projects on its drawing boards, including some of the world's most high profile and ambitious projects.
For further information:
Brian Carvalho
Marketing & PR Specialist
Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC)
T: 971 (0) 2 406 3475
Email: brian.carvalho@adnec.ae
Visit http://www.adnec.ae/press for the latest ADNEC news and images.
Imad Ghadan
Senior PR Account Executive
Orient Planet Communications
T: 971 (0) 2 671 63 93
E: imad@orientplanet.com
Edelman
T: +971 50 441 6265
E: elizabeth.lockett@edelman.com
© Press Release 2009
