9.06 AM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

Dubai's latest landmark tower bridge to house apartments

At a height of 71 metres from the ground level, the bridge has a length of nearly 38 metres and a width of nearly 26 metres. (Supplied)

Published
By Parag Deulgaonkar

Dubai’s latest landmark tower in Business Bay is nearing completion.

The bridge connecting the two 20-storey towers of The Opus in Business Bay is complete with Omniyat Middle East Real Estate Developments set to handover offices in the project in the coming months.

“The offices will be ready and accessible by second quarter 2016 and then will start the fit out work on the serviced apartments and hotel which will finish by second quarter 2017,” Omniyat Middle East Real Estate Developments Sales and Marketing Director Mohammed Hmeid told Emirates 24|7.

The bridge, in fact, will consist of three floors of hotel apartments with prices starting at Dh3.7 million onwards.

At a height of 71 metres from the ground level, the bridge has a length of nearly 38 metres and a width of nearly 26 metres, with the height varying between 20.95 metres and 24.85 metres.

The weight of the primary steel is 745 tonnes, but reaches a whopping 1,000 tonnes when secondary steel, slabs, glass are included.

More than five international engineering teams - Zaha Hadid, BG&E, Brewer Smith Brewer group (BSBG), National Engineering Bureau (NEB), Koltay - and three contractors - Brookfield Multiplex, Alu Nasa, Al Nasr - have worked together to develop the design of the steel elements and that of the complicated double curved facades.

“There was an intense co-ordination effort to ensure that the steel structure of the bridge would fit the free flowing glass that wraps around it. All the steel elements have been designed using complicated 3D software,” Hmeid revealed.

The bridge will have two façade systems with one of them being a unitized façade system while the other being reversed skylight system under the belly of the bridge.

“The design of the façade systems has proven to be extremely challenging. Each piece of double curved glass is unique and have been designed and constructed individually.

Each piece of glass will be installed independently from a massive deck that has been installed under the bridge,” Hmeid informed.

The double curved glass was manufactured in China, while the double curved aluminum frames for the void glass came from Denmark. The secondary steel elements for the skylight system have been procured from Holland.

“All the above pieces were brought together and assembled in Dubai,” the official said.

Omniyat Middle East Real Estate Developments Sales and Marketing Director Mohammed Hmeid

The Opus, designed by Zaha Hadid, consists of one large podium plus three floors of hotel. The mid-section of the two towers have commercial floors while the last three floors of the towers comprise fully-serviced hotel apartments and joined together by a bridge.

The inner facades of the project forms a seamless fluid glass surface and resembles melted ice.