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SOM’s Al Hamra Firdous, a concrete twist on skyscraper design

By | February 7, 2012, 6:07 PM PST

Recently completed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the Al Hamra Firdous Tower is Kuwait’s tallest building, and one of the 20 tallest skyscrapers in the world. In an era of supertall buildings, the 412 meter tower (about a quarter of a mile tall) stands out through its form and material.

Instead of a steel framework that traditionally forms skyscrapers, 500,000 tons of concrete went into the construction of the Al Hamra Firdous. The Al Hamra Firdous required all of that concrete to be pumped vertically. Placing the concrete isn’t the only impressive structural feat of the project. The outermost corner of Al Hamra’s main structural wall spans 150 feet away from the building.

Al Hamra Firdous is the world’s only asymmetrical skyscraper. Inspired by the traditional robes of Kuwaitis, the massive concrete wall that wraps 130 degrees around the building and the concrete lattice of buttresses at the ground are meant to suggest Middle Eastern textiles and patterns.

The turning concrete wall, with carefully placed windows and openings, maximizes and directs views and minimizes solar heat gain on the office floors. The deeply set windows also emphasize the mass of the wall.

Because of the building’s application of a traditional material to a non traditional building type, Time Magazine named it one of the “50 most inspired ideas, innovations and revolutions” of 2011.

Within its 80 stories, the Al Hamra Firdous houses a major commercial complex of offices and retail.

Even at 412 meters, the Al Hamra Firdous is not SOM’s highest skyscraper. The firm is also responsible for the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the world’s tallest tower, which at 828 meters is more than twice the height of the Al Hamra Firdous.

Images: courtesy SOM, Pawel Sulima

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Sun Joo Kim

About Sun Joo Kim

Sun Joo Kim was a contributing editor for SmartPlanet from 2011 to 2012.

Sun Joo Kim

Sun Joo Kim

Contributing Editor

Sun Joo Kim is an architect and creative consultant based in Boston. Her projects include design and master planning of museums, public institutions, hospitals, and university buildings across the U.S. She holds a degree from Carnegie Mellon University and is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council.

Follow her on Twitter.

Sun Joo Kim

Sun Joo Kim

Sun Joo is an independent architectural designer who contracts with design firms. She does not hold any investments in the companies she covers.

She writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

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Concrete is the most hard
Concrete is the most hard material using in construction and when it comes to build a very big building and we need to use concrete material..Concrete mixes can actually come to you in a variety of ways. It can be mixed by professionals somewhere else and shipped to you, you can purchase bags and bags of concrete to mix yourself, or you can have professionals deliver the concrete and mix it right there on site for you.

Regards,
concrete wall panels
Posted by mrkjohnson28
9th Oct
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