DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

COORDINATED DESIGN PROJECT IV

: CASE STUDIES

HOTEL

To: Ins Gedion Y By: Fikremariam H

Ins Daniel
Ins Habtamu Muche
Case study one: Burj al Arab, Dubai

Burj al Arab (Tower of the Arabs) is a seven star luxury hotel located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the
third tallest hotel in the world. However, 39% of its total height is made up of non – uncopiable space. Burj al
Arab stands on an artificial island 280 m (920 ft) from jermeirah beach and is connected to the mainland by a
private curving bridge. The shape of the structure is designed to mimic the sail of a ship. It has a helipad near the
roof at a height of 210 m above ground.

Burj al Arab is designed by a multidisciplinary consultancy Atkins, led by Architect Tom Wrights, who has since
become co-founder of WKK Architects. The design and construction was managed by Canadian engineer Rick
Georgy also of WS Atkins.
Architect: Tim Wright of WKK Architects

Type: Luxury Hotel

Architectural Style: High Tech

Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Cost: 7.8 billion

Construction started: 1994

Completed: 1999

Structural Engineer: Atkins

No. of rooms: 202 Architect Tim Wright

Site
The beachfront area where Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Hotel are located was previously called Chicago
Beach. The hotel is located on an
island of reclaimed land 280 meters
offshore of the beach of the former
Chicago Beach Hotel. The locale's
name had its origins in the Chicago
Bridge & Iron Company which at one
time welded giant floating oil
storage tanks, known locally as
Kazzans on the site.

The old name persisted after the old

Hotel was demolished in 1997.
Dubai Chicago Beach Hotel
remained as the Public Project Name
for the construction phase of Burj Al
Arab Hotel until Sheikh Mohammed
bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the new name.
The concept development and Design
Burj Al Arab was designed by multidisciplinary consultancy Atkins, led by architect Tom Wright, who has since
become co-founder of WKK Architects. The design and construction were managed by Canadian engineer Rick
Gregory also of WS Atkins. Construction of the Island began in 1994 with over 60 WS Atkins managerial and
design staff and up to 2,000 construction workers during peak construction. It was built to resemble the sail of a
traditional Arabian vessel called a dhow. Two "wings" spread in a V to form a vast "mast", while the space
between them is enclosed in a massive atrium.

The architect Tom Wright said "The client wanted a building that would become an iconic or symbolic
statement for Dubai; this is very similar to Sydney with its Opera House, London with Big Ben, or Paris with the
Eiffel Tower. It needed to be a building that would become synonymous with the name of the country."

Concept of the design: Dhow sail

Tim Wrights first sketches of the Hotel

The construction process

The island is constructed
300moff shore in 6M deep
water.
 A ring of steel
interlocking piles was
built that formed a wall
the shape of the island.
Thewall was temporarily
held up by tubular piles
and cables.

Cross section through the

island Sand was used to
fill up the island inside
the sheet piles. Rocks
were placed around the
outside to protect the
structure. Once the rocks
were in place the tubular
piles could be removed.

the sand fill was used as

a working platform from
which the main building
support piles could be
constructed. Sea
defense SHED units
were Placed around the
outside of the rock
armour.
Pictures of the hotel in the construction process SHED units were used to dissipate the action of waves

hitting the island. The island sits 7M out of the water and
is designed to protect the lower floors of the building
from a hundred years storm.

After the SHED units were placed the island became water proof.
Simplified plan

Finished design
Material

Majority of the building is made of concrete which include the roof, walls and the core that holds the V shape
together. Other materials were used in the construction too, such as; atrium, steel, glass, reinforced, concrete
and more.

Site Development

The hotel is constructed on the manmade island nearly 300 m from the Jumeirah Beach. The primary reason why
the hotel was built on an artificial island instead of the beach was to avoid the blockage of the sun. Blocking out
the sun especially on a beach would not have been a wise decision.

Space Usage and Articulation

The hotel is zoned accordance to major functions, their functional identity and character, Security, Ease of access,
beaches and proximity to the urban movements.

sand between the large posts which gets equally distributed or until a larger mass of sand settles in one area,
causing the posts to come to a complete stop. Many potential natural disasters were taken into consideration
during the construction of the island and the precaution persists during the buildings construction.

Orientation

The orientation of the building minimizes the heat gain during the summer seasons, because of the high elevation
of the sun path. The south elevation has the most exposed surface area. As a result, it has the maximum capacity
for heat absorption of the building envelope.

Technology

Burj al Arab uses fabric reducing solar glasses into the atrium to provide an effective diffused light quality. It is
also appropriate for the Middle-East region where its predicted lifespan and self-cleansing qualities should resist
the aggressive environment.

An expansion joint is provided for the full height of the building on the right hand side of the wall. This enables the
Burj al Arab building to ‘breath’ under wind loads and avoids the exertion of large horizontal loads on the
relatively weak bedroom structures.
Circulation

For people, there is access to the hotel through the roof via a helicopter. At the main entrance there is a grand
stairway, an escalator and elevators. For air, the revolving door located at the main entrance acts as a locking
mechanism to prevent a phenomenon known as the stack effect, which occurs when the hot air rises and the cool
air falls in a tall building.

Structure

The building is notable for a number of

complex engineering and construction
feats. The structure of this masterpiece of
architecture is made up of steel profiles
and ensures its stability both for its
triangular shape in plan and for the
triangulation of their facades. It’s
categorized as expressionism Structure,
generally states that framework of the
building is visible from the exterior and interior.

In a sense it is a skeletal perspective which allows spectators to enjoy not only the finished product but also its
construction process as trusses, complex shapes and other elements are left uncovered. The building’s layout is in
the form of two wings spread in a V-shape, creating a ‘mast’ and enclosing a massive atrium. The façade is
covered with two layers of architectural fabric, separated by 60 cm, in order to filter out excessive heat and
sunlight.

Majority of the building is made of concrete which include the roof, walls and the core that holds the V shape
together. The amount of steel used to fabricate most of the framing is fascinating. A large portion of the frame
work was built away from the building and pieced together in different stages.

Sustainable Features

Burj Al Arab is a Green Global Certification recipient for its outstanding effort in sustainability. It is impressed
throughout all areas of the operational audit. In particular, it excelled in water usage reduction, grey water
recycling, as well as in managing its energy output and carbon footprint. It is recognized for its seven star
sustainability.
The Teflon coated fiberglass layer that resembles a sail; this is attributed to create the large atrium inside. In
order to protect it from the overwhelming harsh climate, it is protected with a coat of DuPont Teflon. The fabric
provides three purposes;

 Protects it from harsh weather

 Prevents high temperatures from heating the hotel.
 Provides a wonderful natural illumination during the day.

At night, the sail is just as impressive on the interior and exterior. Lights brighten the hotel with multiple color
schemes leaving a magical impression in the minds of visitors.

The designers succeeded at utilizing materials not only for practical purposes but also for aesthetic usage.

Refrigeration

The hotel is located in an area which solar energy is a parameter that should be monitored throughout the year,
to avoid overload of energy (electricity and heat) in the habitable premises. That's why it was decided to build the
front facade of the hotel without glass, but of a double skin of translucent white cloth screen, stretched by the
structure.

During the day, this membrane allows white light, but avoids overheating the interior, using the method of
cooling by direct loss, that is, reflecting much of the energy back to the outside, projecting shadows on the
premises.

The heat energy that passes the first cloth is removed by a flow of air between the two, minimizing the energy
gain for such guidance. Then the central hall is cooled by evaporation of water from the pits, dropping the feeling
of enclosure. During the night, this membrane is illuminated, creating a visual spectacle both outside and in the
interior space.

Facilities

The architecture of the Burj Al Arab includes several additional facilities. In addition to its beach-side bar, Burj Al
Arab is home to seven restaurants and bars inside the hotel including a bar and restaurant on the 27th floor that
offers spectacular panoramic views of Dubai and the Persian Gulf. The gold-domed ballroom, equipped with a
Swarovski crystal chandelier, was designed as part of the hotel's conference and banquet facilities, which also
includes five board rooms. The hotel has a spa, a library and an amphitheater.
Interior Design

The interior of the Burj Al Arab was designed by Khuan Chew of KCA
International, who used the local landscapes and culture as his
inspiration. A theme of traditional Arabic hospitality was infused with
earth tones and fine materials from all over the world, including
chandeliers, carpets and 30 types of marble. The interior of the Burj Al
Arab features an atrium with a central fountain and a cascading
waterfall with columns embellished with 24-karat gold leaf. The hotel's
202 suites, located on 28 stories, range in size from a little over 1,800
square feet to more than 8,000 square feet.
Case study two: Nile Hotel
The hotel is a 30 floor, 5-stars hotel located on Nile River beside Egyptian Museum and near from
Tahrir Square, to replace the burnt El Watany party headquarters previously.

Concept
The concept was established from the word „Threshold‟ meaning the magnitude or intensity that
exceeded based on a certain reaction, phenomenon, result, or condition to occur or be manifested.

The concept came from a tunnel that excavated from the tower site to reach NILE, THRESHOLDS
grown by NILE water through the tunnel to form the building in its organic formation as the continuation
of organic from the NILE, the organic formation of nodes varied between the podium and the tower, so
the nodes at podium have low level while the other nodes go away to form the Towers.

Formal composition
The podium principally consists of two collaborating systems: a concrete structure combined with a
space frame system. In order to achieve large-scale column-free spaces that allows the visitor to
experience the fluidity of the interior.
Structure
The towers Structure systems consist of two tubes; the concrete service core that tied to the exterior
support columns by floor plates (Tube in Tube system) Materiality. The Skin of the building‖ Glass Fiber
Reinforced Concrete (GFRC) and Glass Fiber Reinforced Polyester (GFRP) chosen as ideal cladding
materials for the podium, as they allow for the powerful plasticity of the building„s design while
responding to very different functional demands as in atriums holes. The tower covered by two skins;
watertight curtain wall and aluminum panels used for acoustic and thermal requirements
Sustainability and innovations
The Hotel connected to the kornish (Nile Bank) through a tunnel passing under the main street which
give the hotel natural and organic look related to the Nile River. The Hotel consists of three towers to
optimize the lighting, ventilation and view of the Nile Large green spaces are laid in 2 sides of the
restaurant as a solution of extreme slope, and to limit the directly heat radiation and bring nature to this
space. The summit of thresholds of the podium was cut, forming atriums which provide the inner space
with proper lighting and have natural ventilation system “air suction system”.

The waste of the hotel exposed to compression in the third floor by the bioreactors to produce biofuel
that operate a part from HVAC system.

Responsive kinetic holes in the northern elevation to catch fresh air through and allowing it to enter the
podium and the used air shifted upward to exit from the atriums ventilation system the suction air
system (cold air replaced by hot air).

Construction Materials
The aluminum skin of the three towers has responsive mechanism based on the physical movement of
people inside the rooms and the result is the variation lighting colors appears on the elevation skin.
Towers Skins consists of aluminum panels fully covered the three towers for acoustic and thermal
insulation.

Drawings
Case study Three: Hilton Hotel, Adiss Abeba

The Hilton Hotel was built in the same year as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the opposite side of the street.
While both designs attempt to overcome the universalism of the international style that reigned especially hotel
and office architecture since the late 1920s, the designers of the two buildings followed very different strategies.
The layout of the Hilton Hotel follows a standard, functionalist hotel pattern with a ground floor podium for
special functions and a high-rise slab with the guestrooms along a central corridor. However, it does not result in
an abstract, geometric box, but appears as a building full of details and references to the local context. This
strategy is in line with the Hilton group‘s general approach at that time to break away from following the
international style. The hotel chain encouraged its architects to cooperate with local firms and integrate
contextual features into their designs. For the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa, the American architect Charles Warner
(1911-2004) of Warner,
Burns, Toan and Lunde echoed elements of the historic architecture of the Lalibela churches from Northern
Ethiopia. The penthouse‘s roof as well as the entrance canopy and the pool are built in cruciform shapes.
Furthermore, the facades of the high-rise are characterized by a single repetitive element that resembles the
church windows from Lalibela; a quite literal translation of their form into a pre-cast concrete element that covers
the balconies on the main fronts and the emergency stairs on the narrow ends characterizes the hotel. Unlike at
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where Enav interpreted the geometry of a symbol for the structural system of a
building Warner directly translates a motive from sacral architecture for decorative purposes at the Hilton Hotel.
The latter is certainly more mannerist and perhaps an early appearance of the more superficial contextually of
postmodernism.