Wasl Tower Featured in Architectural Record

An elegant addition to an already iconic skyline, Wasl Tower in Dubai is DeSimone’s latest feature in Architectural Record. Journalist Nathan Eddy spoke with engineer Werner Sobek about the design ideas behind what architect Ben van Berkel of UNS (formerly UNStudio) calls “a building with a twist.”

Inspired by the asymmetrical contrapposto—or counterpose—commonly used in classical sculpture, the 64-story, ultra-luxury tower twists along its z-axis, with the façade rotating in every direction as the tower rises. Its distinctive form reduces wind loads by 20%.

Beginning with Werner Sobek’s original design for the tower, DeSimone’s structural engineering team, alongside contractor (Arabtec Construction LLC) and AOR/EOR (U+A), completed a critical value engineering and design review. We then developed a new, innovative, efficient, and highly buildable steel and concrete structural design—saving millions of dollars, transforming the construction approach, lowering the overall carbon footprint, and achieving a 38% reduction in construction material quantities over the original design.

As Eddy notes in the article, the design approach “reflects Sobek and van Berkel’s ambition to build a high-rise where performance and form are not competing priorities but mutually reinforcing systems.”

Principal Ahmed Osman, PE, and Senior Associate Aditya Kanodia, PE, led DeSimone’s structural engineering team for this dynamic, 1,000-foot-tall tower.

Read the full article here.

Photo: Deed Studio