Showing 92 results

Archival description
Print preview View:

Etisalat Head Office Building (Etisalat Headquarters)

File includes 15 drawings (10 plans, 1 section, 3 elevations; 1 combination drawing with 1 plan, section, detail), 105 photographs (40 prints: 24 of model, 16 miscellaneous; 65 negatives: 30 of model, 33 site), and 1 model of the building. The Etisalat Head Office Building in Abu Dhabi serves as the headquarters of the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation and provides a symbol for the corporation in Abu Dhabi and throughout the United Arab Emirates. The project was the winner of a Limited Design Competition conducted in 1985. It is composed of transmission facilities, branch office and head office functions, and public activities, all located on a prominent corner site in Abu Dhabi. The plan of the project responds to the corner site by directly addressing the traffic circle. By selecting a tower plan form, it also provides the office functions with good views of the adjacent gardens, the city, and sea to the north. A unique curtain wall system provides solar protection by a facetted arrangement of alternating opaque and vision panels, which give the façade its geometric pattern. At the project's summit is the radome, which houses the telecommunications/microwave functions. It is a unique solution to the problem of visually controlling the multitude of dishes and aerials required of Etisalat, recalling the traditional forms of Islamic design in a refreshing manner. This feature of the project has now become the identifying "image" of the Corporation in the Emirates. It was nominated for the Aga Khan Award in 1995.

Etisalat Building

File includes:

  • 190 Drawings: 4 site plans, 51 plans, 20 sections, 3 8 elevations, 3 6 exterior perspectives, 11 interior perspectives, 5 diagrammatic sketches, 1 aerial view, 22 details: floor patterns, general patterns, elevations, dome geometry; 2 combination drawings: 1 plan I section, 1 plan I elevation
  • 78 Photographs: 61 prints of model, 17 miscellaneous

Building on the success of the Abu Dhabi project, the client, the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, requested a design for its Dubai site. It would be a variation on the themes developed for Abu Dhabi. The functions were to be virtually the same but on a substantially larger site than that of Abu Dhabi. The site provided in Dubai was near the Dubai Creek opposite the Sheraton Hotel in a zone scheduled for future development of major buildings. As the first in this zone, Etisalat sought to address a future visual corridor to the creek and to the other major cultural buildings. The scheme developed into a 16 storey office tower with a facetted curtain wall similar to that of the Abu Dhabi plan but with curved core walls on the east and west faces. The principal materials included granite, green tinted glass and painted aluminum. The project also utilized a radome and the combination of the curvatures of the rotunda. The walls of the tower and the radome, together with the stepped forms of the parking building, have created a most interesting play of forms, finding great favour with both the users and the Dubai citizens alike.

Fintas Centre (a.k.a. Fintas Town Centre)

File includes 1 site plan, 1 presentation board (title block with prints of model and drawing of site plan), and 5 photographic prints of model. The Government of Kuwait initiated the development plan for a new town envisioned as a major urban centre. The Fintas Centre was to accommodate retail and commercial office space, as well as focus on clinics, cinemas, recreation, parking, a botanical garden, and a market, serving a population of 500 000. The site was a vacant rectangular superblock approximately 1 hectare, situated between the Fahaheel Expressway and the As Safar Motorway. It is west of the existing town of Fintas. Some traditional housing exists on the eastern edge of the Fintas superb lock. The mall is wrapped in a wall of parking garages simulating a walled city. There are four gates at the cardinal points: two of which enter low rise office buildings; one a conservatory surrounded by a hotel, library and theatre; and one on a bridge which links the east and the west sides of the centre.

Air Defense Headquarters (a.k.a Air Defense Command Headquarters)

File includes 13 drawings (1 site plan, 7 plans, 2 sections, 2 elevations; 1 combination drawing: 1 section/elevation), 2 presentation boards (1 site plan, 1 plan I perspective), and 35 prints of model. The Air Defense Headquarters houses the Office of the Commander of the Air Defense Forces and his assistants, Research and Development, the Directorate of Planning Projects, Public Relations, the Finance, Military and Civilian Personnel Departments, to name a few. In addition, the Headquarters incorporates a mosque, barracks and a mess hall into its scheme. The site is approximately 4 hectares with walls bermed on all sides. This prevents water drainage into the Headquarters, as well as acting as a security wall. The site is divided into three zones: a service zone; a transitional zone, formally landscaped to create an appropriate entry for the Headquarter Building; and the platform zone, on which the building sits. A central spine divides the site in a north-south orientation, which also acts as an artery for all the shared facilities. The 20 250 m2 building is a limestone-clad stepped pyramid, taking full advantage of the desert light. Its height was restricted by the flight path of a nearby airport and consequently the gardens and entrance are below grade level. The roof is also stepped in form, a concrete shield sheltering an inner landscaped garden, which all administrative offices face.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Headquarters

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.

Arab Monetary Fund Headquarters

File includes 2 drawings (1 site plan, 1 section) and 1 photograph slide of model. This project was a limited design competition. The twin towered headquarters building was commissioned for a major international financial organization. The design incorporates both mirrored double glazed curtain walls for offices, and reflective glass blocks and walls for the service core and major circulation spaces.

Gas Station Office for Mr. N. Malo

File consists of 4 preliminary drawings of three schemes, 7 working drawings, 2 plot plans. Also includes project file with specifications and correspondence.

Results 1 to 10 of 92