Arquitectonica designs symbolic gateway tower to Reem Island, Abu Dhabi

The tower aspires to be the first building in the UAE to achieve certification under the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating.

Sky Tower along with the five 62-story and two 31-story towers comprise 'The Gate' a project on Reem Island with almost 1 million square meters of luxury, state-of-the-art residential and commercial spaces, designed to provide a home in the sky, providing expansive views of the island and coast.

The property is owned and developed by the Sorouh Real Estate Development, which won the 'Best Developer -- Commercial Project Award' for the Gate at the Cityscape Abu Dhabi awards ceremony in May 2007. When completed the Gate will contain 810,000 square meters (2,657,480 SF) of residential space, 105,000 square meters (344,488 SF) of office space and 13,500 square meters (44,291 SF) of retail space.

'The urban significance of the site as the visual gateway to a new city required a corresponding architectural response,' said Bernardo Fort-Brescia, FAIA, Arquitectonica's founder and the project's design architect. 'We created a monumental portico with a tall elliptical tower rising above it to announce the island from afar. The elliptical form makes it multidirectional, intended to be seen from land and sea, city and island. Its cantilevered bay windows stack vertically and stagger in movement, speeding towards the skies and forming a series of interior rooms that project into pure space.'