1 Park Avenue is a tower which, like its designers- Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture, paints conventions and precedents with a wide-tipped brush. The thing about the brush though, is that it’s a new type of future brush, one where each bristle is independently guided and accurate. The scope of the work is wide and hard-hitting while being precisely tuned. Appearing as a string of pearls, a traditional ware in Dubai over the centuries, unique floor plates undulate and shift as they stack, each providing brilliant views and access to daylight.
Daylight, however, is not something which is in short supply in Dubai. Its ubiquitousness created certain necessities as well as certain opportunities for the design. The tower’s skin is cutting edge, featuring light shelves and light-sensing shades which locate at and above every floor, cutting solar gain and lending a texture to the high-efficiency transparent glass facade. Also incorporated into the facade are fully integrated PV cells, harvesting energy for the building’s operational needs- it’s like making ice cubes: if the freezer’s already going to be running, you might as well make ice.
Contained within this smart skin is some 600,000 m² of luxury hotel, premium office space, condominiums, and service apartments. All these are supported by service facilities and additional office space which is located in the tower’s three podium buildings set at its base, amongst the Jumeira Gardens. Within the tower, dramatic features such as the multi-level atrium and lobby through which visitors enter, as well as a 20-story dome at the pinnacle, create a sense of grandeur mixed with optimism, which is becoming something of a typology for the region.
By Matt Davis
Courtesy of Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture
