Dubai’s Lost Projects

13 views

Skip to first unread message

Dhara Shah

unread,

Aug 14, 2013, 9:50:00 PM8/14/13

to Dhara Shah

1. Iris Crystal Tower

The Iris Crystal - Left render from Iris; central and right render from Aedas

Featuring a sinuous twist to a luxury commercial tower, The Iris Crystal was designed by Aedas as an eye-catching structure that took inspiration from its location at the head of an artificial bay and based its form on cascading water. The striking double skin exterior, made up of an inner façade of glazing protected by an outer solar screen, reminiscent of Arabic sun screens, was designed to protect the tower from solar gain. The tower was to be built in the Business Bay section of Dubai – a brand new ‘city within a city’ concept that was to be developed between 2008 and 2012-15. Many projects in this area have suffered from financial difficulties of some sort, and the Iris Crystal is no exception. Despite selling 60% of the available let space by June 2008, the tower has suffered massive delays, with no superstructure in place as yet and no official announcement as to when construction will begin again. 09 more after the break...

2. Hydropolis

Left: Hydropolis Centre: Concept Room Right: Overhead view of Resort and Land Station - Renders from designbuild-network and Impactlab

The premise of Hydropolis – a hotel submerged 20 metres below sea level – may seem like something out of a sci-fi movie, but a joint venture between German designer Joachim Hauser and financier Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai almost led to underwater living becoming a reality. Visitors would reach the hotel from the land station, taking an underground train to the main resort complex situated just off Jumeira Beach. This complex has been designed with reference to the human nervous system, with restaurants, bars, meeting rooms and suites extending away from the ballroom as a central point, acting as the ‘heart’. The ballroom would not be fully submerged, with the roof retractable to allow open air events to take place – even as the view from the windows shows an underwater scene. Unfortunately, with a price tag of $300 million to construct the 220 suite resort, the project tailed off as the recession hit and has been indefinitely delayed as of 2008.

3. The Lighthouse Tower

The Lighthouse Tower - Renders by WS Atkins & Partners

Designed by WS Atkins, who were also behind the Burj Al Arab and the Bahrain World Trade Center, the Lighthouse Tower was designed as an eco-friendly alternative to the usual super-tall skyscrapers shooting up around Dubai. Rather than being one solid tower, the structure is actually made up of two separate towers connected by a series of bridges and sky-gardens and clad in over 4,000 solar panels. It was also planned to attach three wind turbines to the south-facing façade, creating between 700 and 900 megawatt hours of energy. Even the lifts were designed in such a way that a lift heading downwards would create 30% of the energy required for a simultaneously ascending lift. Overall, the designers planned to reduce energy consumption by 65% and water consumption by 40% compared to a standard skyscraper. The idea of a ‘lighthouse’ therefore is symbolic of the Lighthouse Tower being a new style of tower, lighting the way forward. Sadly, however, despite winning awards for sustainable design, the tower has now been cancelled.

4. Dubai Opera House

Dubai Opera House - Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects and Designboom

Brainchild of Zaha Hadid, the celebrated Iraqi-British architect, the Dubai Opera House was to be built in the new Lagoons development of Dubai. The development, which would have spanned over seven interlinking artificial islands and included residential and commercial developments along with hotels, a museum, a marina and the Opera House, was estimated to cost around $25 billion, but construction was delayed in 2008 and subsequently suspended. This obviously impacted on the development of the Opera House, unfortunately leading to its cancellation. Had the project survived, the project would have included a 2,500 seat opera house, an 800 seat playhouse, an art gallery, performing arts school, two libraries, an outdoor theatre and a luxury 6 star hotel. The structure was designed to emulate the gentle peaks and troughs of sand dunes, with a graceful timelessness that sets it apart from many of the standard commercial towers that have already been built in Dubai.