Al-Bahr Towers are twin office towers located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Designed by Aedas Architects and constructed between 2009-2012, each tower stands 145.1 meters tall with 27 floors. Their design incorporates a dynamic, computer-controlled shading screen inspired by traditional mashrabiya designs to minimize solar heat gain and energy usage in the hot desert climate. The towers received a LEED Silver rating for their sustainable features like photovoltaic cells and an intelligent facade that reduces the need for cooling and lighting.

1. AL-BAHR TOWERS
BY-
JYOTI AHLAWAT
SAJIDA SHAH
SONALI JAIN
TSERING CHOEZOM
--- A STANDOUT LANDMARK FOR THE CITY OF
ABU DHABI.

2. ARCHITECT: Aedas Architects
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY: Al-Futtaim Carillion
FOUNDER: Council Investment Abu Dhabi
YEAR OF DESIGN: 2008
YEAR OF CONSTRUCTION: 2009-2012
ROOF HEIGHT: 145.1 m
TOP FLOOR HEIGHT: 120.0 m
FLOORS: 27 + 2 basement levels
LAND AREA: 100.080 m²
FLOOR AREA: 56.000 m²

3. LOCATION: ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB
EMIRATES
COORDINATES: 24° 27' 23" N, 54° 24' 4" E
CLIMATE: HOT DESERT CLIMATE
HIGHEST TEMP:120 DEGREE
FAHRENHEIT
•THE CITY HAS INTENSIVE SUNSHINE
ALL YEAR LONG WITH LESS
CHANCES OF RAIN.
•In such extreme weather conditions, the environmental design is the first priority on the design agenda.
N

4. N
Entry/Exit
SITE PLANNING: TWO TWIN OFFICE TOWERS FACING SOUTH ARE PLACED ON SITE
CONNECTED BY SKYWALK

5. CONCEPT
•THE DESIGN CONCEPT IS BASED ON THE FUSION BETWEEN BIO-INSPIRATION, REGIONAL
ARCHITECTURE, AND PERFORMANCE-BASED TECHNOLOGY.
•CIRCLES AND ORBITS ARE USED TO REFLECT THE CONCEPT OF UNIFICATION AND UNITY
EVIDENT IN NATURE.
PRINCIPLES
• DESIGN PRICNCIPLE IS TO ACHIEVE A PERFORMANCE ORIENTED, CULTURALLY RELEVANT,
TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED, AND AESTHETICALLY INTRIGUING BUILDING.
PLANNING
•BASED ON SIX TANGENTIAL ARCS,TAKEN
FROM THREE INTERSECTING CIRCLES
•A PATTERN WHICH FORMS THE BASIS OF
NEARLY ALL GEOMETRIC
CONFIGURATIONS KNOWN TO THE
REGION.

6. •The design for the project began with two simple cylinders, because the circular plan giving
the most efficient floor area usage while also creating the greatest volume with the least
surface area which will highly reduce the sun exposure surface area .
•An integrated building model consisting both the geometry of the buildings and the mashrabiya shading devices

8. • THE DESIGN IS BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF ADAPTIVE
FLOWERS AND THE "MASHRABIYA" - A WOODEN LATTICE
SHADING SCREEN
•A DYNAMIC AND SENSITIVE SHADING SCREEN ACTING
AS' MASHRABIYA “
•SECONDARY SKIN FILTERS THE LIGHT AND REDUCES
GLARE.
•POWERED BY RENEWABLE ENERGY DERIVED FROM
PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS.
•WRAPS GIANT LATTICE ALMOST TWO TOWERS
COMPLETELY EXCEPT FOR THE AREA NORTH-FACING
FACADES.
SCREENS
AL- BAHR TOWER SCREEN’S MODULE

9. •AS THE SUN RISES IN THE MORNING IN THE EAST, THE
MASHRABIYAALONG THIS SIDE OF THE BUILDING WILL
BEGIN TO CLOSE, AND WHEN THE SUN MOVES AROUND
THE BUILDING, ALL VERTICAL STRIP MASHRABIYA
MOVE WITH THE SUN.
•AT NIGHT ALL SCREENS FOLD, ALLOWING MORE OF
THE FACADE.
AL BAHR TOWER IN DAY TIME AL BAHR TOWER AT NIGHT

10. TORRES - "COCOON BUILDINGS"
•BASED ON A PRE-RATIONALIZED GEOMETRIC SHAPE, TUNED VIA PARAMETRIC DESIGN TOOLS TO
ACHIEVE THE OPTIMAL RATIO OF SURFACE BETWEEN THE WALLS AND FLOOR.
•FORM OF THE TOWERS IS OPTIMIZED TO COMPLEMENT THE SHADING SYSTEM.
•THE DESIGN STARTED WITH TWO SIMPLE CYLINDERS,
CIRCULAR, YIELDING THE MOST EFFICIENT IN TERMS OF
"AREA-TO-FLOOR WALL", CREATING MORE VOLUME WITH
LESS SURFACE.
•THEN, A CIRCULAR SHAPE IS DIVIDED BASED ON A
COMBINATION OF CIRCULAR GEOMETRIES TO REDUCE
SOLAR EXPOSURE, AND IT STARTED TO GENERATE A
NATURAL ORIENTATION.
•THE SHAPE OF THE TOWERS WAS THEN SCULPTED
AROUND THE CORE, NARROWER AT THE BASE AND AT THE
TOP, WIDER AROUND THE INTERMEDIATE FLOORS.
EVOLUTION

11. •EACH UNIT COMPRISES A SERIES OF PANELS STRETCHED PTFE (POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE)
AND IS DRIVEN BY A LINEAR ACTUATOR TO PROGRESSIVELY OPEN AND CLOSE ONCE PER DAY, IN
RESPONSE TO A PRE-PROGRAMMED SEQUENCE THAT IS CALCULATED TO AVOID DIRECT
SUNLIGHT TO FROM THE MOMENT IT HITS THE FACADE .
•COMPUTER-CONTROLLED,
• OPERATES AS A CURTAIN WALL,
•READY TO TWO METERS OF THE EXTERIOR FACADE OF BUILDINGS, IN A SEPARATE FRAME.
•EACH TRIANGLE IS COATED WITH MICRO FIBERGLASS
•PROGRAMMED TO RESPOND TO THE MOVEMENT OF THE SUN.
•IT IS AN ANCIENT TECHNIQUE USED IN A MODERN WAY
•THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS PROTECTED BY A VARIETY OF SENSORS THAT OPEN THE UNITS IN CASE
CONDITIONS CHANGE, OR RAISE TO CLOUD WINDS.
•GEOMETRIC PATTERNS THAT MAKE UP THIS GIANT SCREEN INCLUDE MORE THAN 1,000
MOBILE ELEMENTS THAT CONTRACT AND EXPAND DURING THE DAY, DEPENDING ON THE SUN
POSITION.

12. PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
•ROOFS FACING SOUTH EACH TOWER
INCORPORATE PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS.
•GENERATING APPROXIMATELY FIVE PERCENT OF
THE TOTAL ENERGY REQUIRED RENEWABLE
ENERGY SOURCES, USED FOR HEATING WATER.
•THE TOWERS HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE FIRST
BUILDINGS IN THE GULF THAT RECEIVED A LEED
SILVER RATING.
•A BESPOKE APPLICATION WAS DEVELOPED USING JAVASCRIPT AND ADVANCED PARAMETRIC
TECHNOLOGIES TO SIMULATE THE MOVEMENT OF THE FAÇADE IN RESPONSE TO THE SUN’S
PATH.
•THE PERFORMANCE CRITERIAAND GEOMETRY BUILD-UP OF THE SYSTEM DESIGN WERE
CONVEYED USING A UNIQUE PROJECT SPECIFIC, GEOMETRY CONSTRUCTION & PERFORMANCE
MANUAL.
•THIS FREED THE DESIGN-TO-CONSTRUCTION PROCESS FROM LOCKING IT DOWN TO CERTAIN
PLATFORMS AND COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES AND OFFERED A UNIVERSAL DATA EXCHANGE
LANGUAGE, ENABLING ALL PARTIES TO COMMUNICATE MORE EFFECTIVELY.
DAYLIGHT ANALYSIS FOR SCREENS
IN DIVA AND GRASSHOPPER

13. .
•IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE SCREEN REDUCES SOLAR GAIN IN MORE THAN 50% AND REDUCES THE
NEED FOR AIR CONDITIONING
•SCREENS ABILITY TO FILTER LIGHT HAS ALLOWED TO BE MORE SELECTIVE IN THE CHOICE OF
GLASS.
•THIS ALLOWS US TO USE MORE NATURALLY TINTED GLASS, WHICH ALLOWS MORE LIGHT INSIDE
AND LESS NEED FOR ARTIFICIAL LIGHT.
•THE INTELLIGENT FACADE, TOGETHER WITH SOLAR THERMAL PANELS FOR HOT-WATER HEATING
AND PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS ON THE ROOF, MINIMIZE THE NEED FOR INTERNAL LIGHTING AND
COOLING, ALTOGETHER REDUCING TOTAL CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS BY OVER 1750 TONS PER
YEAR.
•FOR THE PROJECT’S SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING AND SENSITIVE CULTURAL AND URBAN
APPROACH, THE TOWERS WERE AWARDED THE 2012 TALL BUILDING INNOVATION AWARD.