Empire Tower, Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi
Empire Tower, a distinctive building designed by leading architects Aedas, is located on Al Reem Island.
The unique 60-storey building will provide 487 residential units, with community facilities including a nursery and landscaped outdoor gardens.
The building is unusual in its solely residential use. This departure from the more typical mixed-use development, with its safety net of dual revenue streams, reflects Abu Dhabi’s huge demand for residential property in the face of a growing population.
Empire Tower is designed to meet the requirements of the Al Reem master developers' guidelines, as well as aiming for a LEED Silver rating, the standard required for all UAE development.
This unique asymmetrically sloping tower is carefully designed to achieve panoramic sea views from each individual apartment.
The tower will be nearly 240 metres in height. The overall built up area, including 6 floors of podium parking and one basement level, amounts to 94,400m².
The approach
To provide a full package of services to a client who, in terms of development, is recently established in the UAE. Services will incorporate commercial, project and construction management.
The challenges
- The Empire Tower project has some significant challenges, including the island site and especially the building’s superstructure with its 3 dimensional iconic sloping façade as a defining feature.
- Further challenges arise through the added difficulties created by the pace of development in this constrained area, and the challenges associated with both human and material resources.
- With Al Reem Island falling within a separate entity related to approval processes, this demands a vastly different approach from that established in Dubai.
Outcome
- Enabling works started in September 2008.
- The overall construction duration is 34 months, with completion due in 2012.
