Tower of the Arabs

Push every involvement to the limit. Dubai has three assets that are Sun, Sand, Sea. The crown wanted the country to become the exclusive holiday nation. high-End Tourism. The form is simple, but unique. No one has never been built the skyscraper on the littoral island.



This model replicates the scenario of the wave and the base.





The construction built the island with steep rock slope  and then covered with concrete armor to
absorb the force of waves.





This created the triangular steel walls which becomes the outside of the hotel basement, once
excavated the sand from inside.

The wave of the sea is the huge force. This pressure forces the water through the sand and threats the artificial island beneath. The man-made seal will be tested to the limit. If the calculation is wrong, the excavation could be swamped killing hundreds of workers.

The problem multiplies, when the early result revealed bad news. The team searched bed rock deep in the sea bed which there is no solid rocks. When the foundation depended on the sand.
The architecture used the steel reinforced concrete poles as the foundation. Those poles relies on the Skin Friction. The resistance stops two surfaces slipping to pass each other.

The skin friction is all about the contact between the sand and the surface of the pole.
The longer the pole and the further in the ground, the greater the effect.

Sand sample. Avoid Soil Liquefaction.











The gigantic steel structure outside of the main building known as ex-skeleton. A series vast diagonal trusses with two huge steels bolts to the concrete of the building.











The truss needed to be fit into the place with pinpoint accuracy, but the temperature at Dubai varies differently which would make the truss expand or contract. Thermal Expansion.



The hole of the bracket would offset the center.

Cam





Wind Tunnel. Volker buttgereit







Vortex Shedding. This phenomenon would create the vibration that destroy the building.







Damper.

This is like Taipei 101 the colossal steel ball damper.

The damper would counteract the vibration caused by the wind.

The locations of dampers.









Cantilever Beam







Khuan Chew. Chief Interior Designer












[Highlight]
Concrete Blocks
Skin Friction
Outer Trusses Mechanism (Thermal Expansion)
Damper for counteracting the vibration caused by the wind (Taipei 101 Steel Ball)
Cantilever Restaurant

[Questions]