Capital Gate Tower

Capital Gate is a unique looking skyscraper located at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The building is adjacent to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. This skyscraper is considered as one of the tallest buildings in the city and is noted for its leaning structure as well as unique shape and architecture.

Capital Gate Tower History

Capital Gate was planned and conceived to provide the city of Abu Dhabi with its own signature building that would highlight the city’s own progress and development. The tower is also designed to be the focal point of Capital Centre and Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre master development. It is also planned to pay tribute to the legacy that was left by the late His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan who was the late President of UAE and known as the Father of the Nation.

The Capital Gate was first constructed in September of 2007. It was topped out in 2010 and was eventually completed and opened in December of 2011. The building was designed by architectural firm RMJM Dubai.

Capital Gate Tower Features

Capital Gate stands 160 meters or 520 feet high. It has a total of 35 floors that houses the 5 star Hyatt Capital Gate Hotel as well as available office spaces. It is noted for its leaning tower design, a unique feature for a man-made structure. In fact, it was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “World’s furthest leaning man-made tower”. The tower was built to lean 18 degrees to the west.

The tower was able to achieve the inclination by an engineering plan that allows floor plates to be stacked vertically up to the 12th storey and then staggered over the next floors from 300mm to 1400mm over each other. This allows for the tower to have its lean. The gravitational pressure caused by its 18 degree lean is countered by using a core of reinforced concrete and steel with the core built slightly off-center. This is further anchored to the ground by a total of 490 piles buried 20 to 30 meters underground.

The building also features a diagrid designed to provide strength and stability to the tower. It is a structure of steel that is characterized by triangular structures with diagonal support beams. This also requires the structure to use lesser structural steel compared to the conventional steel frame. It is also considered to be the first ever building in the Middle East to ever use a diagrid.

Image Source
Architecture Design – GuideTo.Com

Tags: , ,

Recent Comments

    Categories