Al Sharq Tower by Skidmore, Owiings & Merrill is a unique mix of an iconic form, ingenious structure, and spatial qualities of sky-high living. The purity of its form as nine cylinders defined by a spiraling filigree structure will be a timeless, elegant marker on Sheikh Zayed Road. The Al Sharq Tower will be a 102-floor residential tower which will have a total structural height of 367 m (1,181 ft), and have 268 apartments. Construction of the Al Sharq Tower is expected to be completed in 2011.Al Sharq isn’t close to being the tallest building in town (the higherst is Burj Dubai) but it is one of the skinniest towers in the world.

The tower is to be a slender design with a height-width ratio of 10:1 and comprises 6 tube like designs, each tube is to be approximately 12 meters in diameter. The architects SOM used the tubular design, which is similarly used in the Sears Tower, to reduce the horizontal movement of the building due to the strong winds that can ’shake’ the building. The central tube serves to take the gravity load that the strong winds produce, along with housing the main elevators that service the building.

The end result is wide open, column free interiors.

//Project Awards

2008 • Chicago Athenaeum • International Architecture Award
2008 • Progressive Architecture • P/A Award: Architectural Design

For more pictures visit: www.som.com.