The world's tallest twisted tower unveiled in Dubai - Adds to Dubai's beautiful Skyline

With an inauguration of the Cayan Tower, Dubai's superlative-filled skyline now also houses the world's tallest twisted tower.

Another month, another new landmark for Dubai. Following on from the recent opening of Dubai Miracle Garden, billed as the world’s biggest natural flower garden, the launch of Dubai Design District and the release of plans to build an underwater hotel in the area, the city has now inaugurated Cayan Tower, the world’s tallest twisted tower.

Located by Dubai Marina, the 75-storey building rises to a height of 1,010ft (307 metres) and houses 495 apartments. The swerve of the structure will mean residents in the lower part of the tower will find their view oriented towards the waterfront promenade of Dubai Marina; those on the upper floors are rotated to face the Persian Gulf.

The Tower during construction.

The unusual form of the building presented various challenges for its designers – Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) – and developers. The concrete structure rotates a hexagonal floor plate around a circular core and the top of the tower is offset 90 degrees from the base. Corner and interior columns of the tower twist as they ascend, but most of the perimeter columns were shifted by a just a bit more than a single degree, from floor to floor, resulting in a standardised construction method typical to most large towers. As well as distinguishing the building, the twist also greatly reduces wind force on the tower.

The Cayan Tower Portrait

Cayan Tower was originally to be called Infinity Tower but the name was rejected once it emerged that other structures already shared the name. Although the building is likely to attract a lot of attention, it isn’t SOM’s most significant contribution to the Dubai skyline. The firm is also responsible for the design of the city’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. It was completed in 2010 and stands 2,722ft (828m) tall. The world's tallest hotel, the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai opened in Dubai in 2013 and stands 1,165 ft (355m) tall.


Source: Telegraph.co.uk