---

Etisalat Tower, Dubai

---

BACKGROUND:

The seven Emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates are: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khameh and Fujairah. The UAE state-run telecommunications company is named Etisalat (part of the FLAG consortium) and the company has a telecommunications monopoly presence in each of the Emirates which is most strikingly represented by the distinctive Etisalat Tower building in each Emirate. Each of these Towers is based on the same essential design of a vertical column topped by a communications orb but they differ to give each Emirate its own distinctive building. In my view, the one in Dubai is the most elegant and imposing.

CONSTRUCTION:

The Etisalat Tower in Dubai was designed by the renowned Canadian architect Arthur Ericson whose project was taken over and completed by the Canadian building consultants Cansult after Ericson encountered contractural difficulties. It is a 100 metre cylindrical tower of concrete, steel and glass comprising 15 floors with an adjacent 3-storey circular annex containing public service offices and facilities. The Tower comprises two opposing concrete "shoulders" each shaped in a 40° arc that rise from the base of the building to the top. Within these are the tower's lifts and service supply facilities. Between the 2 arcs are 15 floors of office space shrouded by dark green coloured steel and glass that project out from the building in staggered, vertical, narrow, rectangular columns diminishing in number as the floors project outwards from the concrete columns.

Above the 15th. floor, the hexagonal roof slants in to the centre from either side of the building at 45° to form a base for the communications orb at the zenith. The communications orb is pitted like a golf ball and is packed with telecommunications transmitters and receivers providing satellite and mobile telephone connections throughout the UAE. The exterior of the orb is covered with a mesh of lights that illuminate the orb at night and projecting from the top is a radio antenna spike topped by a pulsating red light signalling the highest reach of the building to aircraft approaching on the adjacent flight approach.

INNOVATION:

The designers have provided a building that provides the height necessary to enable telecommunications transmissions across the whole of the UAE as well as unhindered physical placement of telecommunications equipment covering a complete 360 degree aspect in the communications orb. Office space and conferencing facilities are well-accomodated for in the adjacent annex and in the Tower's floors so the building has functional purpose as well as a striking visual presence.

The building is sited in the centre of Dubai's city district and is surrounded by newer and similarly distinctive buildings but its futuristic design means that it will always look leading-edge no matter what future development springs up around it.