Dubai to also have the third tallest building in the world

The third tallest building in the world will also be sited in Dubai, said its developer Tameer yesterday.

In an exclusive interview with Emirates Business, Tameer said the Anara Tower will comprise 140 storeys and will be 650 metres high (or slightly higher).

"It will possibly be the third tallest building in the world," said Shaun Killa, Director, Head of Architecture (Middle East & India) Atkins. "This list includes Nakheel's new tower."

Visitors to the emirate would be able to go the restaurant at the top of the building, which will be 620 metres high, to experience the new Dubai, he said.

Four months ago, Tameer approached Atkins to hold a design competition, but the twist was that the company had to hold an internal one.

"This different swing can be considered as an international competition but within Atkins – so we had Dubai against the United Kingdom and China to get different ideas. This was a two-stage process. Each office submitted 10 options out of which one was selected. Of these three, the Dubai design option won," said Killa. "We were given an additional month to further develop the option. The challenge was to change the pre-concept into a building design within a month that Tameer could unveil at Cityscape. It was a first for us."

The current design did draw from the other design options, said Tameer.

"The three design options from the Atkins offices were completely different and we got the entire breadth of the Atkins talent to work on this project," said Ghassan Sakhnini, CEO of Tameer. "Out of the final three options, we found that the Dubai office had brought together the elements of iconic status from the memorable perspective. It had been thought through from the vertical city perspective since it is a super-highrise building yet Atkins did not lose the sense of community. We should say we took ideas from the other two offices when we decided on the final brief and the final interpretation from Dubai captured this perfectly."

Anara Tower will be located next to the American University of Dubai on Sheikh Zayed Road.

"It will be recognised by itself and it is in New Dubai, or Dubai Jadeed as they call it," said Sakhnini. "There is no association with any other highrise buildings that Dubai is building."

Anara Tower will span more than five million square foot, and provide views of Marina Dubai.

"The physical constraints of the site are very challenging. To be able to fit five million sq ft in a site of 130x130 sq metres is difficult. The V-shaped design achieved the aim of about 70 per cent of the apartments getting sea-views of The Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Marina. With a double-load, the body of the building will work well in terms of efficiency and is also financially viable," said Killa.

"The building will also have sky gardens. There are vertical communities after every 25 floors, where people do not have to travel all the way down and will get to know each other. Our structural solution supports the building and helps it with the wind loads and creates the community areas."

A challenge was the wind. "We used the two best wind tunnel test laboratories in the world and after a peer review tweaked the design," said Killa.

The top of the building was another challenge. "The restaurant at the top will give anyone coming to the Middle East a significant experience to get to the highest-most point of the building at 620-odd metres. Buildings need to interact with the people instead of being part of a photograph," he said.

All corners of the building are rounded due to the wind coming in from the sea, said the architect.

The project is a mixed-use development and the design is heavily infused with arts and culture in both form and function, with an art gallery that is set to anchor New Dubai as the scene for arts and culture, said the developer. "The gallery will promote modern art and the building will host other cultural events in the podium of the building," said Killa. "The idea is to give back to the community."

Also intended for the tower is a five-star boutique hotel with 250 rooms and luxury branded hotel apartments. The design will also address the environmental challenges by maximising water and energy efficiency, and potentially including renewable sources of energy, in addition to conforming to the international Leed certification requirements.

"We are considering highly innovative MEP systems to reduce energy loads and investigating the possibility of using LED lighting and sensors to reduce energy loads, regenerative elevators and a Leed certification in Gold," said Kila.

"It is 120 metres away from the Dubai Metro system, which will gain the building credits in terms of accessibility and there is a possibility of having an air-conditioned underground connection directly to the Metro line. Also under consideration is the use of photovoltaic cells, shading design on the right side of the façade and other features."

"Like Dubai itself, great art comes from great vision. Anara represents the future of what is already the most future-forward metropolis in the world," said Sakhnini. "Now that the Dubai office has won, the challenge is to make sure that it actually works as a vertical city."

Tameer will be moving its international headquarters into the tower when completed. The actual dates for the project will be announced in the coming months, said the developer.