Sculpted High-Rise: The Al Hamra Tower

With a roof height of 412m, the Al Hamra Tower is set to be amongst the tallest buildings in the world. Setting it apart from other super high-rise towers is its unique sculpted form. An example of architectural expression through structural form on a grand scale, the structural system and exterior form were developed in a symbiotic digital design process. The building geometry is generated by a spiraling slice subtracted from a simple prismatic volume. The spiraling building form results in a dramatic cantilevered office wing that wraps around an exterior courtyard. The two resultant cut surfaces are hyperbolic paraboloid reinforced-concrete walls, extending the full tower height and participating in the lateral and gravity systems. The design of the Al Hamra Tower required consideration of challenging engineering issues complicated by both the height and form of the structure. As one of the few reinforced concrete super high-rise buildings, long-term creep and shrinkage of concrete was carefully studied to account for force redistributions and to develop an extensive program of displacement pre-corrections made during construction. The spiraling hyperbolic paraboloid `flared walls' required for gravity load support of the cantilevered wing of the building, apply a torsional gravity load to the building core that necessitates consideration of both the long-term vertical and torsional deformations of the building structure.