Four Seasons Abu Dhabi Sowwah Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Courtesy PLP Architecture.
Four Seasons Abu Dhabi Sowwah Island
Overview
Thornton Tomasetti provided structural, civil and façade engineering services for a mixed-use project located on a 10,600-square-meter site on Al Sowwah Island, slated to be Abu Dhabi’s new business district and financial center. The project is a 34-story hotel and serviced apartment building with 200 hotel rooms and 120 apartments. Amenities include valet parking; a separate residential entrance; retail, food and beverage outlets; 1,000 square meters of meeting space, ballroom and conference facilities; a 200-square-meter spa and wellness center; and a 600-square-meter gym and fitness facility.
The tower and podium are constructed from reinforced concrete with the columns, walls and beams as in-situ reinforced concrete, while the majority of the slabs are in-situ post-tensioned concrete. The slender nature of the tower limits the size of the cores that can be utilized for stability. Our design strategy includes coupling the cores with embedded steel link beams and deeper slab zones to increase its utility and efficiency. The podium stability is provided through a combination of moment frame action between the slabs and columns, and a number of cores at various points on the podium.
Our Façade Engineering practice supported the design team by providing façade detailing, structural design of custom steel, aluminum and glass elements as well as construction and testing methods. The intricate façade, which gives this building its unique aesthetic, was driven by environmental concerns balanced with a desire to have unimpeded views from within. The external shading in aluminum and structural glass mitigates incident solar radiation.
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