File 4.0 - Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Headquarters

38 drawings : 1 pencil on vellum, 23 cronaflex, 11 ink and dry transfer on mylar, 3 optinegatives
7 photographs

File includes 38 drawings: (25 plans, 5 sections, 4 elevations, 2 exterior perspectives, 2 details: glazing.) and 7 photographs (3 prints of model, 4 contact sheets with 47 images total. The Investment Authority site lies directly opposite a series of broad gardens and is very prominent in its visibility. As such the project was to be a significant contributor to the urban design of the city, and the building's proportions and its relationship to the street were important criteria. The design for the new headquarters for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority was prepared in 1978 in response to an International Invited Design Competition. The site for this project was on the Abu Dhabi "Corniche" albeit at that time in its infancy. The Corniche today is a splendid 10 km Avenue of high quality development and lush tropical gardens with lovely promenades along the sea front. In order to provide a distinctive column-free "banking hall" it was decided to suspend the building from its core walls and columns. This allowed the ground floor to be completely column free and facilitated the design of interior/exterior relationships between the banking hall and the site landscaping. A raised banking hall provided a podium housing below grade parking and improved views to the sea across the Corniche. The structural effect of the building coupled with the tall slender proportions of the glazing created a sense of lightness and gracefulness particularly important to this owner.