abu-dhabi-etisalat-tower: Etisalat Tower, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emiirates
Designed 1985
Bechtel International awarded this project to Arthur Erickson after an international competition organized on behalf of the client. The project is the new headquarters for Etisalat, the Telecommunication Company of the Emirates, and consists of a 24-storey office tower with an adjacent parking structure for 200 cars.
The first three levels of the tower, which are connected by an atrium space, are open to the public. The ground floor features a museum that illustrates the history and development of telecommunications from the invention of the telegraph to modern day satellite systems. From the ground floor, via two sets of escalators, the public can access the two levels above where the public counters for payments of bills, information and purchase of telephone systems are located. All the office levels above are for the private use of the company to house all its various departments. The only exception to this distribution is the fifth level, which is occupied by a small 200-seat auditorium for lectures and small conferences. The fifth level is also linked to the top of the parking structure, which accommodates further employees' amenities including a kitchen and cafeteria, a game room and a prayer room.
The external envelope of the building is made of granite cladding and green tinted mirror glass arranged in a facetted curtain wall. At the top of the building, a large 22 m diameter sphere of Teflon coated material houses a complex array of parabolic dishes and antennas for Etisalat telecommunications needs. This sphere is illuminated at night and has become a landmark in Abu Dhabi, appearing on many postcards of the city.
Photo by Christopher Erickson
