THE ARABIAN TOWER

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Introduction
The Arabian Tower is a 321m high, 7 Star hotel located on the shore of the Arabian
Gulf, 15km south of the city of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. It forms the
centrepiece of the world class Chicago Beach Resort Development, which also
includes the 5 Star, 600 bedroom, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, and the themed, 15 acre Wild
Wadi aquapark.
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The Tower is, both internally and externally, an extraordinary building. The structural
framing includes dramatic, bold forms, which are both part of the architecture and
demonstrate structural design of a high standard. This synergy of innovative yet
efficient structural design with dramatic architecture, has produced a striking building
that is currently the tallest hotel in the world. Internally, the 202 super luxury suites,
each with a minimum floor area of 169m2, are arranged in a V formation, either side of
a 180m high atrium, one of the world’s largest.
The Arabian Tower is designed to reflect the seafaring heritage of Dubai, resembling
the billowing sail of a traditional Arabic Dhow. This has been achieved both by
utilising the profile of the building and by integrating the architecture and the structure
so that each complements and takes advantage of the other. The rigging of the sail is
expressed as a clad framework, external to the building facade. This exoskeleton,
however, is not merely decorative, it forms an integral part of the horizontal stability
system of the structure. The desire to give the front elevation of the building the
appearance of a sail led to the innovative use of a structural Teflon coated tibreglass
fabric as a tensioned membrane facade. The siting of the Tower on a man made island
300m offshore not only reinforced the sail concept but also had the practical benefits
of freeing up more space on shore for the other parts of the development and of
reducing the impact of the Tower’s shadow on the Resort’s beach.
WS Atkins & Partners Overseas were appointed by the Client to provide a complete
multi-disciplinary design service, including architecture, civil, structural and building
services engineering, interior design and landscape architecture. WSAPO were also
awarded the commission for the Construction Management of the entire development.

Desim Considerations
The location, size and form of the Arabian Tower, resulted in a unique set of design
considerations, which required careful analysis in order to ensure that the most
appropriate design solution was achieved.

Aggressive Conditions
The environment in Dubai is typical of the coastal regions of the Arabian Gulf in that
it is particularly aggressive to concrete, embedded reinforcing steel and to exposed
structural steelwork. This is due to the high concentrations of chlorides and sulphates
in the ground, seawater and atmosphere, combined with high temperatures and high
humidity. The shade temperature in the summer can reach up to 50°C, in conjunction
with a humidity, which may fluctuate between 35% and 100% in a few hours.
To resist these conditions high quality, dense, low permeability concrete was used for
both the substructure and the superstructure. This was achieved by specifying low free
water/cement ratios, typically 0.40 or below, adequate cover, typically 60 or 75mm

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 below ground, and by incorporating silica fume into the mix below ground to enhance
durability and selectively above ground to improve strength. To provide further
protection, external membranes were used on the soil faces of the substructure and
applied coatings were used on the external faces of the superstructure. Although, the
use of epoxy coated, galvanised or stainless steel reinforcement was considered, it was
not adopted because of concerns regarding availability and cost in the Middle East,
together with the high risk of damage during fixing and placement of the concrete.
The external structural steelwork was protected with one of two high grade corrosion
protection systems, each with a life to first maintenance in excess of 15 years. The
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exposed steel was coated with a system comprising an aluminium metal spray, a build
coat of two pack epoxy micaceous iron oxide and a white gloss finish coat of two pack
polyurethane to give a total dry film thickness of 340 microns. The steelwork
concealed beneath the cladding was protected with a high build glass flake epoxy
system with a total dry film thickness of 600 microns.

Wind
Being situated on the coast at the southern end of the Arabian Gulf, Dubai is regularly
subjected to “Shamal” weather conditions, a strong wind which blows down the Gulf,
that is sometimes accompanied, in winter, by violent squalls and thunderstorms. Based
on guidance issued by the UK’s Building Research Establishment (BRE), the
recommendations of Dubai Municipality and an analysis of 18 years of wind data from
nearby Dubai International airport, a 50 year return period windspeed of 45 metres per
second, was adopted for the design.
For the conceptual design, wind loading was based upon an extrapolation of the
principles embodied in the UK Code of Practice for Wind Loading. However, in view
of the size and unique shape of the Tower, together with it’s proximity to the 200m
high Jumeirah Beach Hotel, for the detailed design phase, wind tunnel testing was
undertaken. Two series of tests were undertaken, on behalf of WS Atkins, by BMT
Fluid Mechanics Ltd in the UK, using 1:300 scale models. The first series of tests
modelled the Arabian Tower and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel simultaneously, in order
that the interaction of one with the other on the local wind regime could be
determined. The Tower model was fitted with 200 pressure tapping points which
enabled local pressures for the cladding and curtain walling on the main building
facades to be determined. To determine the wind pressures around the various
elements of the exoskeleton, probes were used to measure the local wind velocities,
and these were then interpreted using the force coefficients in the UK Wind Loading
Code to determine pressures for design.
The second series of tests was carried out using a rigid model of the Tower mounted
on a force balance. This enabled the static and dynamic components of the structural
forces at the base of the building to be measured about three orthogonal axes, which
when combined with the known vibrational characteristics, enabled the displacements
and accelerations of the structure to be predicted.

Seismic
Although Dubai itself is not situated in an earthquake zone, only 100 miles to the
north, southern Iran is subject to a moderate earthquake risk and consequently there is
the possibility of tremors in Dubai, during a seismic event in Iran.

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 The BRE recommend that buildings in the region are designed to resist an earthquake
of intensity MM VII, which equates approximately to Zone 2 according to the
American Uniform Building Code (UBC). This corresponds with the requirements, for
tall buildings, of Dubai Municipality, and therefore UBC Zone 2B, with a seismic
zone factor, Z=O.20, was adopted for the design.
A three dimensional finite element analysis of the entire Tower structure was
undertaken, with the ASAS suite of programs, using response spectrum methods to
determine the forces and displacements on the structure, due to seismic loading.
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Island and Substructure

Ground Conditions
The ground conditions at the site reflect the fact that the area has been a low relief,
near coastal or shallow marine environment for most of the last 1 million years. The
stratigraphic sequence consists of partially cemented sand overlying calcareous
sandstone and calcareous siltstone, underlain by siltstone with gypsum.
A comprehensive geotechnical investigation, both on land and below the seabed, was
carried out to determine the soil properties to be used for the foundation design. The
foundation solution adopted for the Tower, consisted of 250No. 1.5m diameter bored
piles, extending down 35m into the underlying carbonate rocks. To prove the adequacy
of the proposed design, a series of pile tests was undertaken, and a 1.2m diameter pile
was successfully loaded to 24MN.

Island
The Tower is unique in being sited on a triangular man made island, located 300m
offshore and connected to the land by a gracefully curving road bridge. Prior to the
island being constructed, a detailed survey of the seabed was carried out, and extensive
mathematical modelling was undertaken to determine the effects of wave action on the
island and the impact of the construction of the island on the coastline. Physical
modelling of the island at 1:32.5 scale was also carried out by HR Wallingford, in the
UK. This testing was used to confirm the design of the island armouring and to assess
the likely extent of overtopping during storms.
The island is essentially a conventional rockbund with a single layer armour system,
lined internally with a geotextile membrane and hydraulically filled with sand dredged
from the seabed offshore. The armour system comprises precast concrete “SHED”
units, manufactured using white cement above the waterline to improve the
appearance.
To enable the three levels of basement to be constructed within the island, temporary
works for that construction were incorporated within the island as it was built. Tubular
steel piles were driven into the seabed, on the line of and prior to the placement of, the
rockbund. Within the extent of the rockbund and just outside the future line of the
basement, a high modulus sheet piled wall was constructed and anchored back to the
tubular piles. This enabled excavation of the fill within the sheet piled wall to a depth
of 1lm below the pile carpet level.

Substructure
Following installation of the piles, the fill within the sheet piled cofferdam was
excavated to accommodate the construction of the three basement levels. As the
excavation progressed, the dewatering had to be continuously monitored, to ensure

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 that there was no risk of soil movement within or beneath the island, which could have
posed a risk of collapse during the construction phase, or damage to the permanent
works.
The Tower is founded on a piled raft, which is 2.7m thick and approximately 6000m2
in area. A thermal trial was undertaken to investigate the effects of heat of hydration
on such a large volume of concrete. This was carried out on a full scale mock-up of the
raft slab, with the sides insulated to represent the continuum. A peak temperature of
64°C was reached after 36 hours, with a maximum temperature differential of 14°C
between the core of the pour and the underside of the raft. These values were within
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the design parameters of 70°C and 20°C respectively, and were confirmed by
thermocouple readings within the first raft slab pour.
The basement construction was designed as continuous, without movement joints in
the raft slab or basement walls, which were typically 750mm thick. External tanking
was applied to the external envelope of the basement, with particular attention paid to
detailing around the pile heads. Generally, the objective was to achieve a very low
permeability concrete, in order to isolate the effects of any leakage to construction
joints or cracks, thus avoiding problems associated with dealing with widespread
damp patches. In addition, re-injectable grout hoses were placed in all the construction
joints in the external walls, so that any leaks could be relatively easily injected in the
future. This strategy was successful, with no widespread dampness and only limited
crack injection required.

Superstructure
Concrete Frame
The vertical loadbearing element of the superstructure, is reinforced concrete, framed
as a “honeycomb” of walls and floor slabs, to form the 202 suites, extending up to a
height of 210m. The suites are arranged in two accommodation wings which form a V
formation, with the main core at the base of the “V” and an escape staircore at the
other end of each wing. The main core incorporates the lifts, escape stairs, main
service risers and “Back of House” facilities. At ground floor level, the building plan is
an approximate equilateral triangle with a side length of about 85m, but the length of
the accommodation wings reduces to about 55m at the roof level as the building
curves in towards the top. The front elevation of the Tower, between the two wings,
encloses the atrium and consists of a tensioned membrane made from Teflon coated
fibreglass fabric.
Three new self-climbing cranes, each with a capacity of 760 tm, were purchased to
erect the superstructure. These were positioned one in the main core and one near the
end of each accommodation wing, and they climbed within the concrete structure on
specially fabricated steel grillages. The cranes were carefully selected and sited by the
contractor in order to be able to cover the entire building area and to be able to lift the
majority of the large, heavy steel elements of the exoskeleton and mast.
The main core walls, staircore walls and suite walls, which varied in thickness from
750mm in the basement to 350mm at the upper levels, were constructed using “jump
form” techniques. This enabled construction of the walls to proceed up to three floors
ahead of floor construction. The main floors were constructed on large 12m by 8.5m
table forms, equal to the floor area of one suite, and designed to take advantage of the
high lifting capacity of the cranes. The intermediate floors were precast in suite size

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 bays at ground level, adjacent to the building, and lifted into place by the cranes. Using
these techniques, one floor a week was achieved in construction.
The majority of the 3.5,000m3 of concrete in the superstructure was placed using a
large stationary concrete pump. This was capable of a maximum delivery pressure of
220 bar, which was sufficient to achieve the maximum 209m pumping height, at the
roof of the building, with a delivery output of 75m3 per hour.

Exoskeleton and Rear Braced Frame

The Tower’s resistance to horizontal loading is provided by a combination of the
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reinforced concrete structure and two massive structural steelwork stability structures.
The exoskeleton consists of two frames, one external to each accommodation wing
and connected at third points up the height of the main concrete core. These are
founded on the concrete substructure at ground level, and extend up to a height of
270m, to support the mast. In combination with the main core, these exoskeleton
frames provide lateral stability in the front to back direction. The rear braced frame
comprises three tiers of cross bracing between the ends of the accommodation wings.
The bracing is attached by large steel embedments into the concrete structure of the
staircores, and the system of the staircores tied together by the rear braced frame, in
conjunction with the main concrete core, provides lateral stability to the Tower in the
side to side direction.
The front and rear legs of the exoskeleton consist of pairs of 3m deep by lm wide
plate girders, laced together with I sections, to form a rectangular member
approximately 3m by 6.5m in plan. These were erected in 12m lengths, by craning in
each plate girder section, temporarily bolting them into position, lifting in the lacings
and bolting them up, and then after final survey and alignment,welding up the plate
girder joints insitu. The rear braced frame is comprised of 1.7m by 2.6m stiffened box
sections, erected in approximately 12m lengths, temporarily bolted together and then,
after final survey and alignment, welded together insitu. Due to the geometry and size
of some of these elements, they had to be lifted into position using a tandem crane lift,
which required extremely careful planning and co-ordination on site.
The majority of the structural steelwork for the Tower was fabricated by the contractor
in South Africa, and transported by ship to Jebel Ali port, about 25lu-n from the site.
There a yard was set up to final paint the steel, following which it was transported by
road to the site and erected using the cranes. However, the exceptions to this, were the
diagonal elements of the exoskeleton, which due to their design had to be fully
constructed before erection. Each diagonal was up to 85m in length with a mass of up
to 165t, and therefore was too large to be transported economically by ship and too
heavy to be lifted by the cranes. These diagonals were fabricated at the yard in Jebel
Ali, and transported by road to the site, in one piece, using special multi-axled wheeled
bogies, pulled by heavy tractor units. This involved complex logistics, not least,
manoeuvring around the island into the lifting positions. Once there, they were lifted
and tilted into position on the structure, using strand jacks fixed to specially made steel
truss cathead structures, bolted via temporary embedments into the concrete structure.

Skvview Restaurant. Helipad and Mast

Near the top of the Tower, there are three structural elements of particular note, these
being the Skyview Restaurant, the Helipad and the Mast.

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 The Skyview Restaurant is a slender aerofoil shaped structure, which projects
dramatically from the face of the building, 190m above the ground, and offers
commanding views over the surrounding coastline and as far as the centre of Dubai,
some 15km away. With a floor plate of over 1000m2, it is supported by tapered steel
box sections, cantilevering up to 27m and up to 1.7m deep, which are anchored into
the main concrete core, by large steel embedments, each with a mass of up to 40
tonnes. Due to the large cantilevers involved, careful consideration had to be paid to
the erection methodology and presetting of the steelwork, to ensure that the completed
structure was level under the final dead loading.
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Springing from the roof of the Tower, with an elevation of 212m, is the helipad. This
is a steel framed structure, supported by a 2m deep box shaped lattice truss, which is
anchored at one end into the main concrete core and at the outer end is propped by two
lm diameter steel circular hollow sections. The helipad is designed to accommodate
twin engined helicopters, up to 7.5 tonnes in mass, for both VIP access and to satisfy
Civil Defence requirements as a means of escape in case of fire.
Projecting a further 60m above the top of the exoskeleton, to a height of 321m above
the level of the island, is the elliptical shaped mast. This is formed from a stiffened
steel plate tube, with High Strength Friction Grip bolted joints between the 12m long
sections. From the outset, it was realised that the mast would be vulnerable to wind
induced oscillations, and therefore, a detailed analysis was carried out to determine it’s
natural frequency and susceptibility to vortex shedding and buffeting. The resulting
natural frequency of around 1 Hz, gave a critical windspeed typical of that expected on
a daily basis in Dubai, when the heating of the land mass causes a stiff afternoon
onshore breeze. The solution was to incorporate three tuned mass dampers in to the
upper sections of the mast, to dampen out oscillations in each direction of sway.
Similar dampers were also required in the upper parts of the rear exoskeleton legs, to
control oscillations.

Claddiw and Curtain Walling

The main building facades are clad with a semi-unitised curtain walling system, with
double glazed units in alternate storey height bands of light and dark blue, separated
by white coloured spandrel panels, designed to break up the appearance of the large
elevations. In order to create a more comfortable and controllable internal
environment, the glass is highly reflective and has a low thermal conductivity, to
reduce the solar and heat gain from the external desert climate. One problem that
always tends to be present in curtain walling systems, is how to adequately prevent
sound transmission from one room to an adjacent one through the curtain wall. For this
7 Star hotel, the sound reduction requirement between adjacent suites was 45dB(A),
and to achieve this, it was necessary to place sound insulation and deadening material
in the transoms and mullions between adjacent suites.
Erection of the curtain wall was able to proceed immediately after erection of the
concrete structure, by casting in inserts into the concrete floors, to take the mullion
support brackets. The aluminium box section mullions and transoms were lifted and
placed on the building, from specially designed temporary mastclimbing access
platforms. Following that, the double glazed units were fixed into the structural grid
from the inside. The benefits of this semi-unitised system are the relative speed and
ease of erection, combined with the ability to replace any damaged glazing units,

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 during the life of the building, from the inside, with external access only required to
ensure safety and to replace cosmetic trims.
The cladding to the main core and to the exoskeleton legs and horizontals, is
comprised of thin resin bonded aluminium panels, powder coated white. These panels
have the advantage over conventional aluminium or stainless steel panels, that they
can be stiffened on the rear face to resist the high local wind pressures on the Tower,
yet still appear flat and undistorted on the front face.

Fabric Screen
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Above the glazed entrance screen, the fabric screen forms the front elevation of the
Tower, it’s appearance resembling that of a huge sail. It is composed of two layers,
150mm apart, of PTFE coated fibreglass fabric, tensioned between elegant steel bow
trusses, which span 50m between the accommodation wing stair cores at double storey
height intervals. These two layers of fabric provide the necessary thermal properties
and allow diffuse lighting into the atrium space. The screen is designed such that
damage to any one panel of the fabric between any pair of trusses, will not cause a
failure of the entire screen. This application is the first time that a tensioned membrane
has been used as a wall on such a large scale.

Conclusion
The Arabian Tower was completed and handed over to the Client at the end of
September 1999, just under six years since the first concept sketches were penned.
During that period, WS Atkins had up to 150 design and construction management
staff on the site at any one time and the peak workforce was 3500. The Tower is now a
distinctive landmark on the horizon of Dubai and it is sure to become as synonymous
with Dubai as the Opera House is with Sydney.

Authors
Martin Halford BSc CEng MICE, Principal Engineer.
Email:mihalford~wsatkins.co.uk
Paul Walters BSc Dipl.Eng CEng MICE, Senior Group Engineer.
Email:piwalters~wsatkins.co.uk
WS Atkins, Woodcote Grove, Ashley Road, Epsom, Surrey. KT18 5BW. United
Kingdom. Tel: +44 (0)1372 726140, Fax: 1-44 (0)1372 740055.

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