Program

Design Studio 5 brought everything learned in previous studios and focused placed a heavy emphasis on vertical planning by having students design a high rise mixed use tower. The result was the Fragments Tower.

The Site

Our 11,582m² site is located at the point Corniche Road forks off to Salam Street which is a very important fork in Abu Dhabi as it connects to one of the main roads of the city to very busy highway. It looks straight down Corniche and Salam Street due to its unique location giving it amazing views of the city, the Corniche and the sea. This unique position also means our building will be visible from all ends of Abu Dhabi Island. This gives us a unique opportunity to not only create a project that impacts the local neighborhood but also impact the Abu Dhabi skyline no matter where you look from.

Context

In order to achieve the desired layered look to the building, lines were taken from around the site and city. Importance was given to views, landmarks, streets and buildings in the local neighborhood.

Extrusion

These lines were then extruded up to varying heights to create varied and interesting “fragments”. The rotations in the fragments create interesting side elevations as opposed to only interesting front and rear elevations. The fragments place emphasis on the verticality of the tower and make it seem slimmer than it is.

A Bit of Flare

Each fragment was given an angled top. This creates the effect of an unfinished tower and adds to the sense of a dynamic tower. Then some of the fragments were angled to a maximum of 5 degrees, again adding to the dynamism of the tower.

Stepped Podium

The podium follows the same dynamic and angular design language as the tower. In addition, the podium is intersected by the tower giving the tower a strong connection to the ground. The podium responds to the slope of the site instead of ignoring it. It will consist of 3 levels, two above street level and one below street level but above sea level.

Finalizing the Concept

The podium was modified to rise instead of sink into the ground. This was done to create more usable space inside and, more importantly, create a more visible and striking piece of architecture in the area. In addition, the tower was finalized with some modifications to the heights of the fragments and closing the areas in between to create the indoor spaces required.