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Visualization of a tower top (Image: Aedas)

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Glass-skinned steel-frame skyscrapers have many
advantages. They're relatively quick, inexpensive and easy
to build and require comparatively few materials. But they

pose problems; heat not least among them. Buildings with

fully glazed facades are essentially greenhouses, so when
the sun comes out, they can get uncomfortably hot. The
problem that is more acute in hot climates like that of the
United Arab Emirates, where, despite this fact, the appetite
for glassy high-rise continues to be voracious. For its design
of Al Bahr Towers in Abu Dhabi, Aedas has developed a
unique intelligent skin, inspired by the traditional Arabic
mashrabiya, that it claims reduces interior heat gains caused
by sunlight by around 50 percent.
Back to Modernizing the mashrabiya: Smart-skinned Al
Bahar Towers near completion

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3D-printed sand Microclimates to cool public

places
By Darren Quick
December 1, 2010
5 Comments
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The 3D-printed sand Microclimates cool the

immediate area
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The lack of cooling in large open areas inevitably

sends people scurrying for air-conditioned buildings
on hot days. Taking a leaf from traditional Islamic
architecture that dealt with the harsh desert climate
with Mashrabiyas a projecting latticework window
that provides shade from the hot sun while allowing
cool air from the street to flow through Londonbased design firm PostlerFeruson has designed a kind
of three dimensional Mashrabiya that can cool the
immediate area in an energy-free way.

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The three-dimensional cooling towers, called

Microclimates, are made from sand using a 3D-

printing technique developed by UK company dshape that takes a CAD file and deposits sand, along
with an inorganic binder, in layers to build a threedimensional structure from the bottom up. By
extending the latticework design in three dimensions
results in the internal structure of the towers having
a large internal surface area. This, coupled with
water fed into the top of the structures, efficiently
cools the air passing through it using evaporative
cooling.

As the name suggests, the Microclimates produce a

cooling effect in their immediate vicinity, making
them an energy efficient way to cool public places.
They also look a lot nicer than an industrial airconditioning system and PostlerFeruson says they
can easily be moved around to different locations.
Via inhabitat

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CTBUH lists its picks for Best Tall Buildings of
2012
By Randolph Jonsson
June 17, 2012
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The Al Bahar Towers at night

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Each year, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban

Habitat (CTBUH), a non-profit group based at the
Illinois Institute of Technology, selects structures from
around the world which represent a blend of

sustainability, technical innovation and appealing

design. This year's winners, each impressive in its
own right, hail from Australia, Canada, Italy and
Qatar along with one from Abu Dhabi that took the
organization's first-ever Innovation Award. An
international panel of jurors made the picks which
will be formally recognized at an awards ceremony in
Chicago this October.

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The winners display remarkable creativity, as well

as a respect for the environment, connection with
place, and the urban surroundings, said awards
committee chairman Richard Cook. With 88 buildings

over 656 ft (200 m) completed globally last year and

78 entries submitted for consideration, the jurors
faced quite a challenge. Here are the results of that
hard work:

BEST TALL BUILDING

AMERICAS:
Absolute Towers

Located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, a rapidlygrowing suburb of Toronto, this pair of towers, one of
which is nicknamed the Marilyn Monroe building for
obvious reasons, is scheduled for completion next
month. The two curvy residential structures join three
other more traditional towers to form the US$470
million Absolute World project.
It's a given that asymmetry in architecture
dramatically adds to cost (from the base to the top,
the Marilyn tower twists 209 degrees), and these two

almost feminine structures are no exception - over

half the total construction budget was consumed by
the sinuous pair alone.
Each floor (and individual residence) differs from
every other, so architects and engineers had to get
especially creative structurally. Dimensions of
support walls and columns were altered to
accommodate adjacent floors, for example, and as
the curved exterior precluded the use of traditional
hoists, they designed an interior construction crane
to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time.
The region's harsh climate also presented some
challenges. With each floor wrapped by a continuous
balcony, engineers had to devise a way to separate
them from the main floor slabs to prevent heat/cold
drainage from the units. The resulting "thermal
breaks" they came up with were so effective, they
may eventually be patented. Innovation abounds in
the Absolute Towers.
Jury comment: "There have been several curvaceous
towers completed in recent years some using
balconies to achieve the free-form edge, and others
using the whole facade. With Absolute we see the
entire building twisting to achieve the organic form,
creating a beautiful new landmark for a developing
urban area."

Design Architect: MAD Architects

Height: Tower 1 - 587ft (179.5m) Tower 2 - 518ft

(158m)
Stories: Tower 1 - 56 Tower 2 - 50

BEST TALL BUILDING ASIA

AND AUSTRALASIA:
1 Bligh Street

Completed in the spring of last year, this striking

US$270 million elliptical office building overlooks
Sydney Harbor and boasts such an impressive array
of sustainable features that it was granted six-star
green status by Australia's Green Building Council.
From a sewage plant in the basement that reclaims
90 percent of the tower's waste water to rooftop
solar panels and chilled-beam air conditioning, it's

evident the designers went all out to reduce the

building's overall footprint.
1 Bligh is also the first major skyscraper in Australia
with an externally-louvered double-skin facade that
simultaneously saves energy while eliminating glare
from the sky. To further enhance the system's
efficiency, the louvers' blade orientation to the sun is
adjusted continuously throughout the day. Power
consumption is also reduced thanks to the
impressive full-height skylit atrium on the building's
south side that supplies abundant daylight to all
levels. This is Australia's first building to be honored
by the CTBUH.
Jury comment: The dramatic, naturally-ventilated
central atrium connects the office workers with
nature at the inner depths of the plan, giving a sense
of openness for the entire building.The series of
communal spaces throughout the building, and
especially the fantastic rooftop garden, add greatly
to the quality of life for the tenants.

Design Architect: ingenhoven architects /

Architectus
Height: 442ft (135m)
Stories: 28

BEST TALL BUILDING

EUROPE:
Palazzo Lombardia

The first Italian structure to win an award from

CTBUH, this large office complex in Milan houses the
regional government of Lombardy's new seat.
Completed in early 2011, the US$505 million project

incorporates numerous features, both time-tested

and cutting edge, that help make this building the
definition of green.
Viewed from the air, the complex's relatively narrow
529 ft (161 m) high office tower appears tethered to
the ground by a series of 46 ft (14 m) wide seven to
nine story curvilinear office "strands," all covered
with "active climate" walls - two layers of glass a
meter apart with rotating vertical blades in between
that can be positioned to shade the interior for
passive energy savings.
Controlled by computer, the finely perforated blades
rotate in groups to block direct sunlight. When
positioned at angles less than ninety degrees to the
glass, the tiny holes actually permit visibility of the
outdoors - a handy feature for those prone to
claustrophobia. Judicious use of solar cells laminated
into the tower's south side glass panels aids in
reducing the building's overall energy usage.
In one of Palazzo Lombardia's more unusual
innovations, the project's proximity to an
underground river allowed designers to create a
geothermal heat pump system that exploits the heat
exchange capacity of the subterranean water. Talk
about digging deep to go green.

Jury comment: In a city known for history and

fashion, the tower is perfectly attuned to the urban
environment. More than simply a tower, the project
creates a cohesive blend of parks and commercial
space, with an appropriately local flair.

Design Architect: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners

Height: 529ft (161m)

Stories: 40

BEST TALL BUILDING MIDDLE

EAST AND AFRICA:
Doha Tower

Even with the fast and furious construction of

innovative projects ongoing in Doha, Qatar, this
striking dome-topped circular office tower stands out
from the crowd. Located in the West Bay district of
the city, the US$126 million project was completed
last March and sports an intriguing facade composed
of layers of intricately cut aluminum reminiscent of
the mashrabiya found on palaces and homes in the
region. Coupled with a layer of reflective glass
underneath and roller blinds inside, the visually

stunning exterior helps reduce cooling costs by

protecting the building from the harsh desert heat.
Being columnar in cross-section, every floor is
provided a panoramic vista - east-facing offices view
the nearby gulf, south-facing see the port, westfacing overlook the rest of Doha City while those on
the north side get to stare at the burning hot desert.
The Doha Tower also gets the distinction of being the
first significant high-rise to use cross-linked dia-grid
columns of reinforced concrete for structural support,
which eliminates the need for a central core. This
innovation not only optimized space available for the
tenants but also allowed construction of an
impressive 27-floor glass atrium.
Jury comment: The skin of the building is a beautiful
expression of the local culture, connecting this very
modern tower with ancient Islamic designs. It also
provides a fantastic pattern of light within the
building, while efficiently dampening the impacts of
the suns rays.

Design Architect: Ateliers Jean Nouvel

Height: 781ft (238m)

Stories: 46

INNOVATION AWARD:

Al Bahar Towers

Completed earlier this month, these striking twin

office towers in Abu Dhabi, UAE, were singled out for
CTBUH's first-ever Innovation Award. Their innovative
facades, much like that on the Doha Tower outlined
above, actively reduce solar gain by more than half
with a structure that mimics the desert-tested latticescreen mashrabiya pattern found on buildings
throughout the region. Banks of solar panels on the
southern facing roofs of both towers contribute about
five percent of their overall power requirement and
power the opening and closing of the dynamic
shading system incorporated into the facade.

Jury comment: The dynamic facade on Al Bahar,

computer-controlled to respond to optimal solar and
light conditions, has never been achieved on this
scale before. In addition, the expression of this outer
skin seems to firmly root the building in its cultural
context.

Design Architect: Aedas Architects Ltd.

Height: 476ft (145m)

Stories: 29

Head to the gallery for additional images of this

year's winners.
Source: CTBUH via Archdaily

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The leaning tower of ... Copenhagen

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Bella Sky Hotel in Copenhagen (Image: Bella Sky

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Article Summary
The Bella Sky Comwell Hotel in Copenhagen has
opened its doors. The 250 feet (76.5 m) tall, 814
room hotel is among of the largest in Scandinavia,
but its not the size of the design from architecture
firm 3XN that's striking - it's the shape. The building's
tilting twin towers lean apart from each other at an
impressive 15 degrees, an angle that provides guests
with a better view of the surrounding parkland.
Back to The leaning tower of ... Copenhagen
The Jumeirah at Etihad Towers Hotel in Abu
Dhabi opens with classy restraint
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There was a time when every day seemed to herald

the opening of a new hotel in the United Arab
Emirates, each one pushing the envelope of
acceptable taste further and further in an orgy of
cartoon rococo gold mouldings (real gold) and marble
for miles. Developer Jumeirah was responsible for its
fair share of crimes against design. That time is over
it seems as Jumeirah opens its latest hotel in the
Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi - Dubai's more sensible,
and richer, uncle. The stunning modern towers
enclose an interior that is a sophisticated and dare
one say, fashionable, Euro-Arabic fusion.
Back to The Jumeirah at Etihad Towers Hotel in Abu
Dhabi opens with classy restraint

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Proposed Beijing district to reduce carbon

emissions and energy use
By Paul Ridden
February 19, 2010
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Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP intend to install a

geothermal heat exchange system in a Central Park
area to help regulate the temperature of the
surrounding buildings
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Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM) has just

unveiled details of the first phase for the expansion
and redevelopment of three business districts in
China's capital city, Beijing. Key to the success of the
project is the installation of a Central Park area which
will help to heat and cool energy efficient buildings in
the Dawangjing District by geothermal exchange
instead of relying on energy-intensive cooling towers.

After beating off stiff competition to have its plan for

the expansion of the Beijing Central Business District
win an international design competition late last
year, SOM (the same company that designed "The
Ledge", a glass walk out on floor number 103 of
Chicago's Sears Tower, that's 1,353 feet straight up!)
has now unveiled its vision for the first of the three
districts earmarked for redevelopment.

Sited just over 11 kilometers from Beijing's Capital

International Airport, the Dawangjing District is to
benefit from a geothermal heat-exchange system
installed as part of a Central Park recreation area to
help passively regulate the temperature of the
surrounding high density office blocks and residential
towers. The green space sets the tone for the whole
carbon-cutting, sustainable feel of SOM's overall
project, which also envisions 80% of journeys in the
area being undertaken by public transport, on foot or
by bicycle.
A network of bicycle lanes throughout the District will
be complemented by a new public transport
infrastructure, including a regular tram service,
aimed at keeping automotive pollution and
congestion to an absolute minimum. It is intended
that the tram lines would eventually link together all
three of the expanded, redeveloped business
districts. Commuters, residents and visitors will no
doubt find the provision of transit stations along the
M15 subway line a boon too, allowing for quick and
easy access to the airport.
The creation of green spaces and traffic reducing
transport initiatives continues through to the wider
expansion plans which will, it is claimed, result in a
50 per cent reduction in District energy consumption,
water needs by 48 per cent, landfill waste by a

massive 80 per cent and eliminate some 215,000

tons of carbon dioxide pollution per year.
Korea plans hashtag-inspired skyscraper
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A Danish architectural firm is planning to construct a

skyscraper in South Korea modeled after the
familiar hashtag or "#" symbol

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Article Summary
The hashtag or "#" symbol has taken on a lot more
use in recent years, especially with the rise of social
media tools like Twitter, where it's used to highlight
popular topics. So in a way, it's a fitting model for an
apartment building designed to act as a selfcontained neighborhood, which is exactly the idea
behind the Cross # Towers planned for South Korea.
Danish architectural firm, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG),
is modeling the look of the proposed building after
the familiar symbol, by placing two interlocking
bridges between two skyscrapers, which will also
support outdoor park areas to mimic the sort of
spaces you'd normally find on the ground.
Back to Korea plans hashtag-inspired skyscraper

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