CTBUH Guest of Honor at the TowerTech Tradefair in Doha, Qatar and tour of the Tornado Tower

October 12-15, 2009

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat was pleased to be the Guest of Honor during the TowerTech Trade Fair, organized in Doha, Qatar from October 12 through 15 of 2009. TowerTech is organized by the Economic Group, a young Qatari based event organizer. The fair focuses on businesses in the MEP industry and those active in the design and construction of tall buildings in the Middle East.

CTBUH’s Research and Communications Manager Jan Klerks and Board of Trustee member William Maibusch, who is stationed in Doha, represented the CTBUH and delivered a presentation on recent international tall buildings trends and sustainable tall building design and development as part of the opening ceremony, which was attended by the Qatari minister of Energy and Industry. The invitation came in the wake of CTBUH’s recognition of the Tornado Tower in Doha as the best Tall Building in the Middle East and Africa region for 2009. 


The skyline of the West Bay area seen from the old town

Doha
Qatar’s capital, Doha, is one of the emerging hubs in the Gulf Coast region. Aided by large supplies of natural gas (an estimated 14% of the world total), modest oil reserves and a very friendly tax regime, the country tries to position itself as a new international business hub. To distinguish themselves from the other cities in the region, one of Doha’s development focuses is on the knowledge economy. In 2004, the city established the Qatar Science & Technology Park to attract and serve technology-based companies and entrepreneurs. Qatar also established Education City, which consists of international colleges. Several foreign universities, such as such as Texas A&M and Northwestern University, have built campuses here.

Another focus is on sports. When Doha organized the 15th Asian Games in 2006, it established Doha Sports City, consisting of a new national stadium, a Sports Academy, aquatic centers, exhibition centers and many other sports related buildings. The 318 meter / 1,043 feet tall Aspire tower is another landmark reminiscent of this event. Following the success of the Asian Games, Doha enthusiastically kicked off an official bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Championship.


Reference to the pre-skyscraper era		 .
Let there be no mistake, Qatar is bidding!

Skyline
Doha’s rapid development is embodied by an impressive skyline in what is called the West Bay area, following the Corniche (bay shore road) around the bay to the northwest of the old city. Since 1982, the pyramid shaped Sheraton Hotel was a solitary oasis at the West end of the Corniche, but very recently it has been joined by a number of new iconic skyscrapers. One of these is the Burj Qatar, a 232 meter / 761 feet tower designed by Jean Nouvel which recalls the main shape of the Torre Agbar in Barcelona and the façade of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, both designed by Nouvel. Currently under construction along the Corniche is the 437 meter / 1,434 feet tall Dubai Towers, which will be the tallest building in Doha when completed.  A 551 meter / 1,808 feet tall Convention Center Tower, designed by Helmut Jahn, is planned as the centerpiece of the developments in the district. 


Aspire Tower		 .
Dubai Towers under construction		 .
Burj Qatar nearing completion

In an attempt to create a mixed urban environment, a number of residential skyscrapers have been planned in the West Bay area. An example is the 245 meter / 804 feet tall, recently topped out twin tower project called the Palm Towers. Next to the projected convention center, the City Center Mall opened its doors in 2001 as one of the largest shopping centers in the Middle East, containing 120,000 m2 / 1,300,000 ft2 of retail space across five floors. To the north of West Bay, following the coast line, the latest development is called The Pearl. This is a collection of artificial islands spanning nearly four milion m2 / 43 mio ft2, adding 32 kilometers of new coastline for use as a residential estate with an expected 15,000 dwellings by 2010.

Tornado Tower
One of the new iconic buildings shaping the new skyline of Doha is the 200 meter / 656 feet tall Tornado Tower, winner of the CTBUH award for the Best Tall Building in the Middle East and Africa region for 2009. The name has been derived from the curved, hyperbolic shape of the building. The circular footprint of the elegant 52 storey building has a diameter of 60 meters / 197 feet and includes a ground level restaurant, support facilities and a bank. Sixteen high-speed passenger elevators serve the 84,000 m2 / 904,168 ft2 of office space, a first floor cafeteria and conference rooms. The 27th floor contains the recreation area which includes a gym and a juice bar.

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Tornado Tower seen from the entrance
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 Group picture from the heli deck. From left to right: Emile Nacouz (CICO), Brett Latham (AECOM), Stuart Allen (CICO), Nick Toase (QIPCO), Jan Klerks (CTBUH) and Thomas John (CICO)

The building is designed with over 1,500 car parking spaces within three levels of underground, basement parking. This allowed for landscaping of the surrounding area, adding to the overall appearance of the tower. The shape of the tower is enhanced through a unique lighting system, designed by renowned light artist Thomas Emde, enhancing its status as an instantly recognizable landmark during the dark hours. The movement of light suggests the torsion of a tornado. The lighting system is programmable and capable of producing over 35,000 variations of lighting patterns.


Spacious column free floors		 .
Terrace on the upper floors

Reflections
Without a doubt, the recent development of Doha is impressive.  Doha is yet another example showing where quick decision making, a very friendly tax regime, inexpensive immigrant labor, a lack of time consuming democratic processes, a good deal of self confidence and of course, a large reserve of natural gas can take you.

Because of the speed of development and the way this is embodied through iconic skyscrapers, it is tempting to compare the development of Doha with Dubai, but there are also major differences. First of all, Doha is in a position in which the city can learn from the challenges Dubai was facing in their period of initial growth. Development seems to go fast, but not hysterically. The way certain development decisions are being made may seem unorthodox at times, but the country leaders appear to be learning fast. Unlike Dubai, recreational tourism isn’t a major focus of development, which may also be caused by the fact that Qatari laws are a bit more traditional compared to the relatively liberal laws of the United Arab Emirates or Bahrain. Also one must wonder how realistic is the bidding for major summer events, given the extreme climate.

The biggest wonder of all remains the skyscrapers in the desert. From a theoretical point of view, it makes no sense to do so, other than for sheer iconic purposes. The great number of buildings trying to be iconic and eye catching is deflating the meaning of these words. As the development strategy appears to be aiming at creating a market for office space, one must wonder how sustainable this investment is in case demand will not catch up. Dangers of rapid growth are rapid decline and repetition of errors. With Dubai already having one of the highest ecological footprints in the world, it would be a good thing if the Qatari leaders would pursue a sustainable model of development. New technologies could play a significant role in this. The TowerTech fair could play an important role when it comes to exhibiting these.


Doha Corniche

Thanks
The CTBUH would like to thank the Economic Group as the organizer of the TowerTech Trade Fair for their excellent hospitality and the opportunity to get to know this fascinating part of the world.  Also many thanks QIPCO Holding Co., CICO Consulting Architects Engineers and AECOM for hosting the Tornado Tower tour.