UAE's Sowwah Square is Mena's Best Tall Building

Sowwah Square in Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi, has won the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s (CTBUH) best tall building award for Middle East and Africa for 2013.

The three other regional winners include The Bow in Calgary, Canada (Americas); CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, China (Asia & Australia) and The Shard, London (Europe).

The council received over 60 entries from around the world for the Best Tall Building awards.

Sowwah Square is a 450,000 square metre office, retail and hotel development in Al Maryah Island. (CTBUH)

Developed by Mubadala Real Estate and Infrastructure, Sowwah Square is a 450,000 square metre office, retail and hotel development that forms the commercial center of Al Maryah Island (formerly Sowwah Island).

Sowwah Square's four commercial towers, luxury hotels and approximately 33,000 sqm of retail and dining flank the capital's new headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, creating a strong business and infrastructure hub for the island and setting new standards for international business at the heart of Abu Dhabi.

The project includes four Grade A landmark commercial towers with a working population of more than 12,500; two 5-star international luxury and business hotels - Rosewood Abu Dhabi and Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island; glass-enclosed headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Galleria at Sowwah Square, housing approximately 33,000 sqm of luxury retail space in a two-level podium and landscaped public areas with waterfront promenade.

The mega complex emphasises a sustainable design approach throughout, and looks beyond the LEED certification process to integrate both active and passive sustainable design strategies, CTBUH said.

“Moving towards LEED Gold is challenging in this region, and I applaud the strategies implemented in Sowwah Square, including the use of an environmentally responsive, double-skin façade which positively contributes to the overall energy performance and thermal comfort around the building perimeter,” said awards juror Robert Okpala.

The Council will name an overall winner for the ‘Best Tall Building Worldwide’ from the four regional winners in November.

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