Soaring over 185 meters (607 ft.) in height, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) Headquarters building consolidates its sovereign wealth fund operations along Abu Dhabi’s famed Corniche beachfront. Completed in 2007, the sinuous, slender tower contains 65,600 square meters (706,112 sq. ft.) of Class A office space and is surrounded by greenery that complements the heavily landscaped Corniche. The elegant 37-story structure also responds to its environment, featuring a double-skin “active” façade, mechanized louvers for climate control, and a computer-controlled lighting system to conserve energy.
Recognized as an important seat of learning that brings together many different cultures, the American University in Cairo (AUC) has existed in downtown Cairo for 90 years. Increasing demand had strained the original campus facilities, so a new campus development (City for Learning) was commissioned while releasing a portion of the city center site for alternative use. The 105-hectare (260-ac) AUC New Cairo Campus is a visionary educational project that has catalyzed residential and commercial development in its immediate environment.
A 201-unit, luxury attached-housing development in the Mamillah redevelopment section of Jerusalem. Designed by Moshe Safdie Architects, units in David’s Village feature marble flooring, an individual closed-circuit television alarm and intercom system, electric shutters, and underground parking. The project is the residential phase of a large mixed-use redevelopment project that will include shopping, entertainment, restaurants, and hotels within walking distance of many major tourist attractions.
Built around the old Fahaheel fishing harbor, Al Kout-Fahaheel Waterfront is a 24-hectare (59-ac) retail and entertainment center that has transformed the waterfront into an accessible, vibrant, and public space that draws visitors from all over Kuwait. The product of a public/private partnership, the project comprises more than 17,000 square meters (182,986 sq ft) of retail space along two piers, two marinas, and a beachfront promenade with public amenities. The Al Kout-Fahaheel Waterfront is the first phase of Madinat Al Fahaheel, a 300,000-square-meter (3.2 million-sq-ft) mixed-use development.
Responding to the need for athletic facilities on campus, the Charles W. Hostler Student Center of the American University of Beirut (AUB) provides 800 students with fitness and sports programs in a modern sustainable building. Located on the lower campus of the American University of Beirut, the new Charles W. Hostler Student Center is made up of five differently rendered buildings that cover 23,000 square meters (247,569 sq ft) including the newly renovated AUB beach, track, and green field seating 560 spectators. Winner of the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) 2009 Institute Honor Awards for Architecture and the AIA’s Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten Green Projects for 2009, the center provides sports, fitness, and extracurricular world-class facilities. Its design is intended to engage the open and closed spaces created by the placement of buildings while linking the buildings to each, and to the site’s water pavilions, green roofs, and multiple walkways.
The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence is a community shopping street along the Dubai marina seafront consisting of two levels that features 311 retail outlets. It is located in the heart of Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR), a 720,975-square-meter (7.76 million-sq-ft) mixed-use development that comprises 36 residential towers between 39 and 54 stories high, four hotel towers, one corporate tower, and offices. The Walk has a variety of tenants that serve the local community such as restaurants, an art gallery, dry cleaners, cafés, and bookstores situated on both a plaza and ground level. The Walk is one of the first and only retail spaces in Dubai to offer an outdoor, pedestrian-friendly shopping experience along the beachfront that is accentuated by fountains, landscaped shaded courtyards, and alleys.
