Kinetic Engineering used in Al Bahar towers, Abu Dhabi.

The Aedas studio was chosen to design the new headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Investment Council after an international competition for the commission. The two 25-floor office towers have capacity for between 1000 and 1100 employees in each. The design concept is both culturally and environmentally appropriate and meets the goals of the 2030 Development Plan for Abu Dhabi which was recently published.

Searching for innovative designs for the skyscrapers, nature and culture were the most persistent sources of inspiration. The Al Bahar Towers demonstrate these two sources in the advanced detection system which was designed to integrate the building into its cultural context and respond directly to the climatic requirements of the region: the “mashrabiya” form of the screens, anchored in the Islamic architectural tradition of the Middle East, and the dynamic movement of each of the individual units recalls the responses of the native plants. The use of highly developed modern technologies permitted this focus through the use of parametric and algorithmic modelling. The design concept was refined using computer programming, without sacrificing the ideals of the project. In the end, a new paradigm in the innovative design of tall buildings was borne.