Construction work has begun on the capital city’s tallest residential and commercial high-rise, the Sky Tower, following a groundbreaking ceremony held late last month for the 83-storey building project.

When completed in 2008, this 379-m-high skyscraper will, according to current world rankings, be the 15th tallest.
The Sky Tower is being built by Sorouh Real Estate and was thrown open for investment to nationals, expatriates and foreign investors in early April. It is part of the Dh10 billion ($2.72 billion) Gate project, which will form the entrance to the Al Reem Island Shams Abu Dhabi project and will comprise eight towers – with the Sky Tower being the signature property.
 “The design and construction elements of Sky Tower will set the standards for all future Sorouh projects,” says Munir Haidar, CEO, Sorouh Real Estate, adding that the prestigious Gate project “would be the visual entry point, or gateway, to Shams Abu Dhabi as one approaches the development that will be undertaken by the very best international development firms.”
“The Gate project is a landmark development. It will be an arch of towers that will form a gateway to the development, taking into account the importance of preserving the surrounding environment…especially since it overlooks the mangrove forest and Arabian Gulf,” says Bernardo Fort-Brescia, managing director of Arquitectonica, the leading architectural firm behind the arresting design of the Sky Tower.
“The unique requirements of building in the Gulf – and in Abu Dhabi – were taken into account while designing the tower,” he says, adding that the environment-friendly Sky Tower would incorporate the latest in cutting-edge technologies for power management.
 The Sky Tower, with its distinctive elliptical shape has been designed to reduce wind resistance and will be the first of the eight towers of the Gateway project to grace the skyline. It will take three years for all eight towers to be completed.
The mixed-use tower will offer high-end retail, state-of-the-art offices, and top-quality apartments. 
 The structure will comprise a combination of conventional and composite elements for the floor slabs and columns. The composite elements comprise hollow-core precast concrete sitting on perimeter steel beams. High-strength concrete-filled steel tubes applied to the lower office floors will save on construction time and also offer open, flexible floor spaces.
 The remainder of the tower will be built using conventional concrete flat slabs with concrete columns in order to achieve cost benefits, to control the mass at the top of the tower, and to enable an economical structure to be built within the desired programme.   Hyder Consulting is the lead structural engineer for the project and its design solution uses a common structure throughout the commercial and residential areas of the tower and incorporates outriggers to regenerate the core capacity at levels 20, 40 and the roof. The outriggers will assist in eliminating the need for artificial mechanical damping controls. Wind tunnel testing will be carried out to determine the actual dynamic behaviour of the tower.
 The Sky Tower, says a spokesman of Sorouh Real Estate, will be almost equally divided into residential and commercial apartments with residences being located on the top floors and grade ‘A’ commercial space on the lower floors. Residences will comprises one and two-bedroom apartments, which will gradually give way to three and four-bedroom units with the luxury duplex apartments being located on the topmost floors.  There will be separate entrances to the residential and commercial floors on opposite sides of the high-rise.
“Sorouh Real Estate is one of the leading property development companies in the UAE and the region. As a young company, it’s an avid player in the development of the sector. Since its establishment last summer, Sorouh has initiated two of the greatest mega projects ever to be announced in the region, including Shams Abu Dhabi and the Lulu Island development,” says Saeed Eid Al Ghafli, chairman of Sorouh.
 “Shams Abu Dhabi is the cornerstone of Sorouh’s property development activities and the Gate will set the standard for all developments that will follow. It will include a core of residential buildings, supported by commercial, institutional, recreational and healthcare facilities as well as the hotel sector. We’re sure this development will embody the company’s slogan of building communities in perfect balance, where all the requirements of modern urban life complement the natural and environmental surroundings,” Al Ghafli says.
 Sorouh Real Estate, says Haidar, is expecting the massive complex to attract a major retailer, such as a supermarket chain, to locate on the first level, with other retail and service outlets. Sky Tower will also have plenty of recreational amenities for residents, including a large landscaped deck, separate men’s and women’s spas as well as fitness centres, common rooms and an outdoor pool.
 Haidar clarified that the Gate and Shams Abu Dhabi were located in a special economic zone as set out by the Abu Dhabi government. Accordingly, expatriates are allowed to purchase property on a 99-year leasehold agreement. Nationals, expatriate residents, foreign individuals and corporations, including corporations registered outside the UAE will also be able to purchase residential and commercial units.

Shams Abu Dhabi
Sorouh Real Estate, meanwhile, has shortlisted eight companies to bid for earthworks and deep sewer excavation on the site of Shams Abu Dhabi. This phase of the construction work will last about five months.
 The earthworks will involve carving out the topsoil over land corridors earmarked for road construction on the Shams section of Reem Island, which is located 300 m off the northwest shore of Abu Dhabi.  Sorouh said the earthworks and grading component associated with it will include placement of more than 2.5 million cu m of fill under the road corridors.
 The deep sewer component includes the supply and installation of approximately 1,850 m of main sewer trunk lines several meters below the ground and 33 manholes. 
 The eight contractors who have been invited to submit tenders to this phase are: ADMAK General Contracting, Al Muhairi General Contacting, Al Jaber Transport and General Contracting Establishment, Abu Dhabi Land, Hilalco (Hilal Bilbadi & Partners Contracting Company), Abu Dhabi General Transport Company, ADMAC and Copri Contracting.
“The earthworks and excavation is the first major construction phase for Shams Abu Dhabi,” says Haidar. “We will recruit the best resources available in the market to move forward with the construction work on Shams Abu Dhabi to ensure that the development will be delivered on time.”
Shams Abu Dhabi, which will be home for about 70,000 people, will occupy over 1,320 million sq m, accounting for 25 per cent of Reem Island. Residential projects will occupy 80 per cent of the overall space of the project while the remaining 20 percent will be dedicated for commercial use and recreational facilities.
The project is organised into a series of neighbourhoods, including: Gateway Village, Lower Village, Marina Village, the Entertainment District, Central Park Village and Central Park Residential Towers, Central Business District, the Upper Village, the Sea View Residences, the Mangrove Residences and the Resort Hotel. Individual developers will develop blocks in accordance with Sorouh’s master concept plan. Unique landmark structures such as the Quad Tower, Gate Buildings and the Resort Hotel will be constructed early in the programme.
 The first phase of the project is expected to be completed by 2009 and the full project is scheduled for completion in 2011.