This is a continuation of my previous article, "Top Eight Construction Projects in Dubai".
Dubai, named the fastest growing city in the world, is home to extremely interesting projects of architecture and design. Construction is booming considering that twenty percent of the world's cranes are currently located in Dubai. Tourism rates are off the charts, making Dubai International Airport the busiest airport in the Middle East.
image sourceMeant to be a combination of a penthouse and a condominium, the Pentominium is described as the "defined height of luxury". Upon completion, which is scheduled in 2010, the Pentominium will tower at 516 meters and be the tallest residential tower in the world. If you visit the website and navigate through the pages, you will find the word "luxury" a countless amount of times. This seems to be their priority, considering that residents will have 24-hour butler service, a sky pool, an observation deck above 200 meters, a business center, and many other amenities. The designer of the tower is Dr. Andrew Bromberg.
Burj al Alam (World Tower)
How many places do you know that have a spa on the 108th, and final, floor of the building? Well now you have one.
Burj al Alam, with yet another unoriginal name, will surpass Taipei 101 as the tallest commercial tower in the world in 2010. It will feature 200 hotel suites, 104 apartment suites, 74 office spaces, and 4300 car parking spaces.
It is strategically placed to view the Burj Dubai supertower on one side and the Business Bay Creek on the other. The unique crown design makes it a luxurious piece in the never-ending puzzle of Dubai's amazements.
DAMAC Heights
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Do I start at the fact that this tower will contain private cinemas, private gymnasiums, indoor swimming pools, jet spas, and saunas? Or do I begin by telling you that the penthouse and suite owners of the DAMAC Heights tower have access to their own gender separated health clubs. Either way, this 460 meter, 90 story skyscraper will be the center of attention in the Dubai Marina, or at least one of the spots of attention. The building will be overlooking the Palm Jumeirah, which was mentioned in my previous article linked above.
There's also valet parking on multiple levels, hi-speed internet access to all homes, a golf simulator, a nursery, a banquet, a meeting hall, and a barbeque area, but we can assume that's standard for these amazing Dubai towers.
East Park 07 Tower
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Just like the rotating towers by David Fisher, the EP 07 and EP15 towers will create energy for themselves and the city around them. Solar power will be collected on various locations of the EP 07 tower, making it effectively self-sufficient. The look of flowing water is supposed to symbolize Dubai's relationship with water (with the manmade islands, and the rivers that transport visitors). The official EP 07 site also claims that the round figures are meant to symbolize the pearl trading that used to take place in Dubai.
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East Park 15 Tower
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The EP towers were both designed by Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill. They claim that the 101 story skyscraper will be a "tower of light" for the city to gaze at. It is to be used as a hotel, commercial, retail, and conventional building. In some way I don't understand, the shape of the building and the many geometric patterns are supposed to somehow maximize energy generation. There are three sky gardens that will allow for air ventilation and to make the building seem as if it is made of four parts towered on top of each other.
Hydropolis
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Hydropolis is going to be the world's first underwater luxury resort. It will surpass the Burj Al Arab, which is a 7-star hotel, and be rated a 10-star hotel. Plexiglass walls and clear domed ceilings will allow guests to live and sit near fish and other aquatic animals. There are three parts to the hotel. There is a land station where guests will be welcomed and registered into the hotel. Then, a connecting tunnel with a train transport will bring guests to the main part of the hotel, where there will be 220 suites. The cost of the entire project is valued at around 300 million Euros. There will be sister projects being built in other locations such as China.
Ski Dubai
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Ski Dubai is a huge, indoors set of ski slopes made for all skill levels, the longest being 400 m long. The building itself has 22,500 square meters of space.
To keep the snow frozen, temperatures are maintained at -1 to -2 degrees. This is amazing considering it's located in the middle of a desert!
A chairlift can lift skiers and snowboarders to the top. There can be, at the most, 1500 people inside the slopes. However, there is a separate snow park 3000 square meters big where children and adults alike can play.
Assuming this financial crisis won't hurt Dubai, we can hope to expect many amazing achievements and icons in the new city.
Stay tuned for Dubai Projects 3 and check out my page!
