Muqarnas Tower At KAFD
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Muqarnas Tower uses a traditional architectural motif of the region muqarnas vaulting to create a façade with multiple corner offices and a surface that shades itself. The tower has 70,000 m2 of Class A office space and retail space over 30 floors with below-grade parking and two retail pavilions in the plaza forecourt. The concrete slab and beam system rises 138 meters above the plaza. The exterior wall is a unitized aluminum and glass assembly. Smart Shading The massing and skin concepts for the tower are driven by solar performance. The linear plan of the tower is oriented on the east-west axis to minimize the problematic exposure to low-angle sun. Elevators and other core elements are arranged along a shear wall on the south side to minimize southern solar exposure. The composition of metal panel types of varying finishes creates a shimmering mosaic that changes appearance as the sun moves through the sky. By contrast, the north side is transparent and open to take advantage of better solar orientation and preferred views. Horizontal fins of varying depths on the north façade are calibrated based on the actual quantity of sun falling on this surface. As a result, the faces which require more shading have greater fin depths, reducing glare and cooling loads. Daylight dimming and occupancy sensors are utilized to reduce lighting loads. The project has been designed to meet LEED certification sustainability targets. The retail pavilions in the south plaza have window openings that are sized in response to solar exposure the smaller openings occur where solar intensity is greatest and the largest occur where the intensity is least and greater visibility is preferred. The plaza planting and paving patterning utilize a contrasting graphic pattern of light and dark colors to reduce glare while minimizing heat gain at the surface of the plaza. The dappled effect simulates shading and augments the true shading from the array of date palms in the plaza. Offices and Amenities The unique floor plate shape and façade geometry result in an office floor plan with up to eleven corner offices per floor. The Saudi office market in particular (and the Middle East in general) prefers an exclusive office environment, with enclosed offices preferred over open workstations. The slender Muqarnas Tower floor plates provide a greater number of perimeter offices by area and the opportunity for premium executive offices in each of the dramatic, angular facets per floor. The north façade looks onto the Wadi, which is a landscape greenway connecting the entire development, providing a garden amenity to the tenants of the Muqarnas Tower. A tapering seven-story high entrance lobby with exposed structural shear walls connects the Wadi to the south plaza and drop-off, creating an urban gateway and pedestrian thoroughfare.
http://openbuildings.com/buildings/m...-profile-40266
Large Image
Muqarnas Tower uses a traditional architectural motif of the region muqarnas vaulting to create a façade with multiple corner offices and a surface that shades itself. The tower has 70,000 m2 of Class A office space and retail space over 30 floors with below-grade parking and two retail pavilions in the plaza forecourt. The concrete slab and beam system rises 138 meters above the plaza. The exterior wall is a unitized aluminum and glass assembly. Smart Shading The massing and skin concepts for the tower are driven by solar performance. The linear plan of the tower is oriented on the east-west axis to minimize the problematic exposure to low-angle sun. Elevators and other core elements are arranged along a shear wall on the south side to minimize southern solar exposure. The composition of metal panel types of varying finishes creates a shimmering mosaic that changes appearance as the sun moves through the sky. By contrast, the north side is transparent and open to take advantage of better solar orientation and preferred views. Horizontal fins of varying depths on the north façade are calibrated based on the actual quantity of sun falling on this surface. As a result, the faces which require more shading have greater fin depths, reducing glare and cooling loads. Daylight dimming and occupancy sensors are utilized to reduce lighting loads. The project has been designed to meet LEED certification sustainability targets. The retail pavilions in the south plaza have window openings that are sized in response to solar exposure the smaller openings occur where solar intensity is greatest and the largest occur where the intensity is least and greater visibility is preferred. The plaza planting and paving patterning utilize a contrasting graphic pattern of light and dark colors to reduce glare while minimizing heat gain at the surface of the plaza. The dappled effect simulates shading and augments the true shading from the array of date palms in the plaza. Offices and Amenities The unique floor plate shape and façade geometry result in an office floor plan with up to eleven corner offices per floor. The Saudi office market in particular (and the Middle East in general) prefers an exclusive office environment, with enclosed offices preferred over open workstations. The slender Muqarnas Tower floor plates provide a greater number of perimeter offices by area and the opportunity for premium executive offices in each of the dramatic, angular facets per floor. The north façade looks onto the Wadi, which is a landscape greenway connecting the entire development, providing a garden amenity to the tenants of the Muqarnas Tower. A tapering seven-story high entrance lobby with exposed structural shear walls connects the Wadi to the south plaza and drop-off, creating an urban gateway and pedestrian thoroughfare.
http://openbuildings.com/buildings/m...-profile-40266