Al Hamra Firdous Tower is a 412.6m tall skyscraper located in Kuwait City, Kuwait. It has 77 floors of office and retail space, making it the tallest building in Kuwait. The unique twisting geometry was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill to maximize views while minimizing solar heat gain. The solid south facade features limestone cladding to reduce solar radiation, while transparent north facades offer panoramic Gulf views. The tower's sculptural form reflects the local landscape and won several international architectural awards.

1. Al Hamra Firdous Tower, Kuwait
Group 5
Topic : AD Book Case Study

2. Introduction
• Location :
• Kuwait City, Kuwait
• Climate Of Kuwait :
• Desert Climate, Hot & Dry Climate.
• Geographical Features Of Kuwait City :
• Kuwait Is Situated In The North-eastern Part
Of Arabian Peninsula, At The Head Of The
Arabian Gulf.
• Kuwait Is Bordered On The North And West
By Iraq, On The South And West By The
Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia.
• Awards Received By Tower :
• Cityscape Award For Commercial, Mixed-use
Developments In 2010.
• Awards From The Chicago Athenaeum.
• Mipim Architectural Review Future Project
Award.
• A Bronze From Miami Architectural Biennial
In The Under Construction Project Category
In 2007.

3. Location and its neighbourhood
Al Hamra is the gate of Kuwait’s business hub.

4. Brief
• Architects :
• Designed By Skidmore, Owings And Merrill (SOM).
• Architectural Style :
• Deconstructivism
• PROJECT Type :
• Business Tower & Luxury Centre.
• Facts :
• First Asymmetrical Skyscraper & World Tallest Stone
Cladded Tower.
• Total Floor Level Of Commercial Skyscraper :
• 80 Levels
• YEAR Of Construction : 2006-2011
• Height :
• 412.6 M From Ground To Tip.
• 371.4 M Occupied Height
• Top Floor Height :
• 368 M From Ground To Top Floor
• Total Floors : 77
• Total Elevators : 47
• Escalators : 16
• Total Bua Of All : 2.1 Million Sq Feet
Sections

5. STORY OF AL HAMRA
• Al Hamra Is The New Landmark With Its Iconic Tower
Heralding A New Era Of Development And Prosperity In
Kuwait.
• Like An Enshrouded Figure With Its Delicate Glass Veil, The
Tower Provides Spectacular Views Over Much Of Kuwait
And Across The Arabian Gulf.
• Torque Wall :
• Monolithic Stone At The South Wall Framed By
Twisting Ribbons Of Torque Walls (Flared Wall),
• Defines The Iconic Form Of The Tower.
• The Apex Of The Tower With Carved Flared Walls
Depicts A Continuation Of The Sculptural Form
Infinitely Upwards.
• South Wall / Stone Cladded Wall :
• The Solid South Wall Is Designed In A Way To
Decrease The Solar Radiation.
• Openings Are Based On The Relationship Of The
Envelope And Its Position In Relation To The Sun.
• The Geometry Of The Interior Wall Is Generated And
Responds To The Need To Minimize Solar Heat Gain.
• This Wall Not Only Protects The Building From Critical
Environmental Conditions, But Also Takes On The
Role Of The Structural Spine Of The Building.
Elevations : side & front.

6. Concept design & geometry
• The geometry of the tower is based on a set of criteria :
• the strategy of future financial customers
• environmental factors i.e. sun exposure and wind loading.
• The resulting shape provides transparency into the gulf and opacity to the
severe desert.
• The building resembles an elegant hidden figure with a delicate glass veil
reflecting the silhouette of the city based on site allotment and sun path
concept
• Geometry :
• The unique geometry of the Tower creates the illusion of a subtle
elegant twist, which reflects the profile of the peninsula with its
delicate glass veil, allowing breath-taking views of the Arabian Gulf.
• Design :
• the intricate geometry of the tower is defined with a pure, simple
formal operation, which is based on the removal of mass / Volume due
south in order to maximize views and minimize the solar radiation .
• As a result, the Tower gives the impression of a twisting sculpture that
react to the environment, with its transparent envelope facing north
and its solid wall facing south.
• Flared Walls Based On Sunpath.
• Deep Angled Windows
• Stone Wall
• Insulated Glass

7. SITE PLAN

8. Multi storey car parking :
• a precast concrete building
• Total levels : 11 levels (2
below grade and 9 above)
• Total built up area : 6,000
Sqm (BUA).
• total capacity : 2,000 parking
spaces.
• Connectivity : offers close
pedestrian access to both the
tower and the mall with
several bridges at various
levels.

9. Entrance & lobby :
• Height of Entrance to the Tower : 24m (no columns)
• Area of luxurious lobby : 900 Sqm
• Oriented on the north side.
• The geometry of this area is generated by the application of the principles of the laminar
structure supporting the tower above and below articulates space.
Entrance view, section of entrance lobby & lobby view

10. Business tower
• HIGH RISE
• LOW ZONE : 56 - 64
• CROSSOVER : 65
• HIGH ZONE : 65 -75 (Executive Floors on the 74th & 75th
providing the highest business address in Kuwait with
unique experience)
• SKYLOBBY 2 : 55TH FLOOR (served as transfer floors, fully
equipped business center and a spacious employee lounge 7
meters high ceiling.)
• REFUGE : 54 (designed and equipped for emergency
occurrences )
• MECHANICAL : 52 – 53
• MID RISE
• LOW ZONE : 31 – 41
• CROSSOVER : 42
• HIGH ZONE : 42 -51
• SKYLOBBY 1 : 30TH FLOOR (served as transfer floors, fully
equipped business center and a spacious employee lounge 7
meters high ceiling.)
• REFUGE : 29 (designed and equipped for emergency
occurrences )
• MECHANICAL : 27-28
• LOW RISE
• LOW ZONE : 6 - 16
• CROSSOVER : 16
• HIGH ZONE : 17 - 26

11. Business tower & its spaces

12. Floor plans

13. Specification for tower
& its design :
• Al Hamra Tower features a total of 62 office
floors
• Total elevators : 43 elevators .
• No south facing offices.(to reduce heat gain and
direct sunlight solar analyses).
• Office floors start at 35 m above ground level
above the main lobby , health club and spa, to
offer striking views over the Arabian gulf .
• Office space ranges from 450 Sqm. - 1,750 Sqm.
with each floor offering a total built-up area of
2,300 Sqm. on each floor, a sky corridor
connects the two wings, providing dramatic
views.
• The building is divided horizontally into three
zones stacked office.
• Visitors reach the top two, taking the express
elevator lobbies offering meeting space and
other services, to approach the intermediate
floors used “local elevators”. Using VIP elevators
comes directly from the main lobby to the
crown of the building where the restaurant.

14. Spaces inside luxury centre :
• AL Hamra Luxury Centre or the shopping mall
features a total of 5 floor levels spread over 24,000
Sqm (total area for mall)
• Facilities : luxury retail, food and beverage and
entertainment features.
• Its façade has been carefully designed to
continuous with, and complement the Tower’s
cladding.
• Multiplex cinemas : the centre’s uppermost level
houses the nine-screen multiplex cinemas.
• There is also a health club and a SPA located
between the Luxury Centre and the Tower above
the main lobby (BELOW 35 M).
• outdoor roof garden on top of the Luxury shopping
Centre and an exceptional pot door landscaped
plaza of 6,000 Sqm.

15. Luxury centre & its Spaces

16. Shops
• Banks :
• National Bank Of Kuwait (G-24)
• Pharmaceuticals :
• AL HAJERY PHARMACY (B22)
• Beauty :
• LUSH, GLOSS SALON (M-21B), LIP LAB (M-19B)
• Cosmetics & Perfumery :
• Beidoun (B-01), V VERDE (B-12B), Al-jazeera Perfumes (M-17), The Fragrance Kitchen (M-19B), Atyab Al
Marshoud (M - 24)
• Kids Fashion :
• FUTURE KID – EXPLORE (B-09-10A-10B)
• Home & Furniture :
• TEMPUR (B-20)
• Accessories :
• Kefan Optics (B-13), TOBACCO SHOP (B-06), CHIPS STORE (B-11)
• Unisex Fashion :
• Bally (G-21), Ted Baker (M-15)
• Luxury Fashion :
• Rullart (B-07b), Adidas (B-14), Hermes (G-10-13), YSL (G-07), Gucci (G-15-17), SALVATORE FERRAGAMO (G-20),
Bottega Veneta (G-14), GRAIN BOUTIQUE (M-13), Serb Fashion (M-18), Harrys Of London (M-10), MONT BLANC
(M-04)
• Entertainment & Leisure :
• KID'S PUZZLE (M-20), AL HAMRA GRAND CINEMA (2nd Floor)
• Mobiles & Communication :
• Zain (B-18-B)
• Jewellerys & Watches :
• Officine Panerai (G-04), Alma (G-01), BEHBEHANI LUXURY BOUTIQUE (G-09), AL ARBASH (M-03)

17. Shops & its spaces

18. Multiplex cinemas

19. Dinning
• Restaurant :
• PICCOLA MILANO (F-10)
• ENTRECOTE (M-18)
• BICE (F-14-15)
• JUNKYARD (F-08)
• CUTS (F-16)
• VTERRA (F-21)
• THE BOWL (F-12a)
• RECCO (F-13)
• KUFTA-JI (F-05b)
• GIA RESTAURANTS (F-12)
• Melenazane
• BROWN TOMATO (B-04-05)
• WOK DOJO (F-05)
• PICK (F-03)
• JOA (F-11)
• EATCHEMENT (F-04)
• ELEVATION BURGER (F-09)
• INTERNATIONAL MILL (B-18a)
• SALAD CREATIONS (F-21)
• Cafes :
• MARBLE SLAB (F-28)
• L’ETO (Basement)
• East Café
• COFFEA (B-15)
• ANGELINA (G-18)
• The Chocolate Bar (B-02-03)
• CAFÉ MEEM (B-16)
• BARTONE (F-07)
• STARBUCKS (B-19)
• COSTA COFFEE (M)
• ESPRESAMENTE (M-25)
• Café Bateel (F-01-02)
• TEAG SHOP (B-07a)

20. Another Features and benefits
• Sky Lounge
• starting at 351m providing a unique dining experience from the
highest point in Kuwait.
• Sky Corridors
• connecting both wings of the Tower floors with breath-taking views.
• Smart Building
• (due to fibre optic backbone).
• advanced Building Automation system
• IT telecom networking (administrated by a world leading facility
management company.)
• 100% redundancy of power supply.

23. Ground floor plan tower block

27. Technical specification
• Foundation : 289 piles of 1200 mm diameter
ranging in depth from 22 to 27 m (cast in
place bored piles).
• Al Hamra Tower is covered with 84,000m2 of
limestone tiles on south wall façade
• a mesh tile covered with crushed limestone
on the curved wall trancadis.
• 55000 m2 of curtain walls has been fixed on
the external façade of the building forming
the sculptured shape of the Tower.
• Substation : the business tower was
consisting of 5 numbers electrical substations
located at different level floors as B2, 4,27 ,52
,76 including new equipment’s ( panels +
transformer) .

28. Materials
• Steel
• In the structural framework 6,000 tons of steel and 38,000 tons of reinforcing steel in the
rest of the building were used.
• Concrete
• Concrete is the material used in the construction of the Al Hamra Tower as a malleable
material is needed to get the sculptural molded shapes of the walls. 500,000 tons of
reinforced concrete, 195,000 m³ were used.
• Stone
• The 258.000m2 limestone lining the structure makes this tower in the largest structure in the
world coated with this material.
• The solution was to use limestone tiles on the lower floors and the upper floors “trencadis”,
a mesh coated with crushed limestone, significantly reducing weight while maintaining the
same look.
• Glass
• Except for the southern facade facing the desert, the rest of the building is completely
coated with insulating glass.
• These windows are characterized by low emissivity coating and compatibility with the
heating and bending process required to manufacture glass that surrounds the corners.
• These curves units represent 30% of the crystals of the building.

29. • Lamella structure :
• The Lamella is a structure which was
created by curving the entrance columns
outwards from a height of 60 meters to
create a column free main lobby.
• the Lamella were built with fiberglass
formwork fabricated from shop, drawings
generated from a 3D model.
• it consists of steel plates up to 160 mm
thick.

30. Structural sustainability
• The solid south wall, and flared geometry, is generated in order to
decrease the absorption of solar radiation.
• The openings are based on the ratio of the envelope and its position
relative to the sun.
• This wall not only protects the building from critical environmental
conditions also assumes the role of structural backbone
• The point at the top of the tower not only solves the complex
geometry of the carved flared walls, but also involves the
continuation of the sculptural shape up.

31. Facades treatment
• Most of the Al Hamra flows in a straight line,
but the building has three glass facades that
allow occupants to enjoy the view of the
Gulf to the north, east and west.
• However, a pair of reinforced concrete walls
on the south side of the tower give the
appearance of wearing a wavy coat.
• The facades of the tower facing Gulf
contrast the impression of transparency,
granted by the glass, with the opacity of the
facade looking south toward the desert,
finished in stone.
• The south facade, rotated 130 degrees and
two fins that run up and down in opposite
directions, is designed to protect the
building from severe desert sun, minimizing
heat absorption.
• The deep windows, carved angle on the
south wall thick views across the city and
peninsula to the side of the desert.
• n order to maximize the views and minimize
solar heat gain in the office floors, a quarter
of each floor plate is not chiseled south side,
causing the displacement of entire tower
from west to east.
• The result of this action reveals a rich
monolithic stone on the south wall, framed
by elegant flare ribbons winding walls
defining the iconic shape of the tower.

32. Group no : 5
• Sushilkumar gupta
• Jayesh Mhatre
• Prachi shigwan
• Sayali patil
• Sayali salunkhe
• Prakshal shah
• Harsha shinde
• Sunayna naik