Al Bahar Towers stand in Abu Dhabi, completed in 2012 to a design by the firm Aedas, built as the headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Investment Council. Their defining feature is a dynamic exterior shading screen, a mashrabiya-inspired lattice of triangular fiberglass umbrella-like units covering the glass curtain wall of both towers, computer-controlled to fold open and closed across the day in response to the sun's position, reducing solar heat gain while admitting daylight when direct sun is not a concern. The pattern and geometry of the screen were drawn directly from mashrabiya, a traditional Islamic latticework screen long used in the region's vernacular architecture for shade and privacy, reinterpreted here as a fully mechanized environmental control system rather than a static ornamental motif. The towers' responsive facade was widely covered on completion as one of the more ambitious contemporary applications of a historic regional building technique to a large-scale modern high-rise, and it earned Al Bahar Towers a number of international sustainable-design awards.
Facts
Building Type LocationAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 1 Completed Year Building Type
Building Type (category) Building Type (category) Classification
Standing Status Connections
Has Building Type
Entity-backed identity for the building-type enum value this building already carries, resolved to an architecture concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The building-type fact itself stays on the building unchanged.
Entity-backed identity for the building-type enum value this building already carries, resolved to an architecture concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The building-type fact itself stays on the building unchanged.
In Style
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Al Bahr Towers
Introduction
One tower houses the new headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC)
Infobox, General information
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Awards section
were placed second at the Emporis Skyscraper Award, the world's premier honorary event for high-rise architecture, for projects completed in 2012
Introduction, first paragraph
The development consists of two 29 storey, 145m high towers
Entity description and the lead/infobox of the Wikipedia article
Al Bahar Towers stand in Abu Dhabi, completed in 2012 to a design by the firm Aedas, built as the headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Investment Council. Their defining feature is a dynamic exterior shading screen, a mashrabiya-inspired lattice of triangular fiberglass umbrella-like units covering the glass curtain wall of both towers, computer-controlled to fold open and closed across the day in response to the sun's position, reducing solar heat gain while admitting daylight when direct sun is not a concern. The pattern and geometry of the screen were drawn directly from mashrabiya, a traditional Islamic latticework screen long used in the region's vernacular architecture for shade and privacy, reinterpreted here as a fully mechanized environmental control system rather than a static ornamental motif. The towers' responsive facade was widely covered on completion as one of the more ambitious contemporary applications of a historic regional building technique to a large-scale modern high-rise, and it earned Al Bahar Towers a number of international sustainable-design awards.
- In Style: Islamic Architecture, infobox architectural_style field: Islamic architecture
View the Source2. Wikidata: Al Bahar Towers
Wikidata Q15707433, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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