Abu Dhabi City is building, and building BIG. They're hard at work
on an incredible $300 billion plan to grow as quickly as possible. But they want to do it while protecting the city's culture, heritage, and natural environment.
The centerpiece of this plan towers over the heart of the city: Aldar's
appropriately-named Central Market. A 12-acre urban oasis filling 4
blocks, Central Market is a self-sustainable community for the modern ages,
designed with a uniquely Arab point of view. Centered around the tallest
residential tower on Earth, Central Market will be the first facility in the
world that will take care of every spiritual, material, and relaxation need a
person could have. It will also feature one of the world's tallest office
towers, entertainment facilities for all ages, sky-high playgrounds for
children, high-end shops, Edenesque gardens, hotels, as well as a
reinvention of a traditional Arabian Souq — complete with a large mosque
and vast outdoor market space filled with traditional Arabian goods.
World's Tallest Residential Tower
The Central Market actually features 3 skyscrapers, each among the tallest
buildings in Abu Dhabi. And the highest of them all is the Central Market
Residential Tower. At 1253 feet, it will be the tallest residential building in
the world. The 88-floor tower will include 489 new homes, including
architecturally innovative apartments and exclusive tri-floor penthouses.
But surprisingly, Central Market was not designed just for the city's superelite. In a move that's unheard of in the Middle East, the government actually required that the tower include residences for all budget levels, to make this a real and vibrant community, and to benefit citizens of all social status.
First Ever Retractable Roof on a Mall
Abu Dhabi's blazing sun can produce ground temperatures up to a deadly
122 degrees Fahrenheit. To protect the Central Market residents and
visitors from these extreme temperatures, engineers are erecting an
innovative retractable roof to cover part of the 275,000 square foot retail
facility. The 1800 sq. ft. steel and bronze roof cover is the first of its kind,
and will allow natural ventilation and daylight into the Central Market's
outdoor shopping area. The accordion-like nature of the cover will allow for
the folds to slide seamlessly under the main roof opening the market up to
the sky.
Two of the Largest Energy Efficient Buildings
The Central Market's towers aren't just massive and beautiful. They're also
smart — some of the smartest in the world. Architects are changing the
paradigm for Middle Eastern construction by making these buildings
incredibly self-sufficient. The roofs of all three towers will feature advanced
(and invisible) solar technology, which will generate 30% of the complex's
electrical demand. And the buildings will keep themselves 20% cooler
thanks to thousands of cutting-edge double layer façade panels. They
feature a ventilated cavity between two layers of glass, so for the first time
ever, the cladding is actively cooling the buildings. It's also incredibly
difficult to install, because it's made of the heaviest façade panels in the
world, at over 3500 pounds each, and must be hung while rappelling from
the outside of the 1200-foot tower.
One of the Middle East's Most Expensive Developments
In a time where most builders are cutting costs, Aldar has spared no
expense in the quest to create a diverse and extensive community that will
take care of every need a Middle Eastener could have. Costing $15 billion,
1/6th of the country's GDP, Central Market truly has it all — three of the tallest buildings in Abu Dhabi, with vast residential, commercial, and hotel space, its own mosque, playgrounds, pools, gyms, parks, fountains and pools, movie theaters and nightclubs, parking for 5300 cars, roads and alleyways, and two separate retail districts.
A City on Top of a City
Central Market is going right in the middle of one of the busiest, most
crowded cities in the world. Abu Dhabi desperately needed this
development to increase their capacity, but they didn't have any place to
put it. Rather than relegate their gleaming new icon to the suburbs, or risk
snarling the overcrowded downtown with redirected streets and construction-related closures, they decided to put the Central Market right on top of the existing infrastructure. As a result, this 12-acre complex is being built OVER the city's main 6-lane thoroughfare, Khalifa Street. Never before has such a huge construction project been built over moving traffic.
