74 77 global project focus EPC Age magazine 2008

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The Dynamic Tower represents the future of architectureby combining motion, green energy and efficientconstruction, which will change the old concept of

architecture as we know it, and herald a new era of dynamicliving. Created by revolutionary architect, Dr. David Fisher’smixed use, Dynamic Tower offers infinite design possibilities,as each floor rotates independently at different speeds,resulting in a unique and ever-evolving structure thatintroduces a fourth dimension to architecture – time.

The Dynamic Tower will continually reshape, allowing thesun to both rise and set from the same view. The buildingcan also be adjusted to the season, weather, or to capture a

special moment. The world’s first building in motion takesthe concept of green buildings to the next level where it willgenerate electricity for itself as well as other nearbybuildings, making it the first skyscraper designed to be self-powered.

The second Dynamic Tower, planned for Moscow, is nowin the advanced design phase, with preassembling of theunits to start soon and completion scheduled for 2010. Thedeveloper is the Mirax Group, headed by leadinginternational developer, Sergei Polonsky. The Moscow tower,which will have 70 floors and be 400 mt (1,310 ft) tall, willbe located in Moscow City area, the new prestigious part of

Building in motion

Dr. David Fisher is constructing the world’s first rotatingskyscraper, which will be self-powered and completelyprefabricated. Remona Divekar discovers some amazing factsabout this unique structure.

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The Engineering Team: Dubai Tower● Leslie E. Robertson (LERA) are

the main structural engineersof the Rotating skyscrapers,who is in charge, therefore, ofthe overall engineering aspectsof the first two and futuretowers.

● Bosch Rexroth of Bosch Group,world leader of drive andcontrol systems, is in charge ofthe engineering andmanufacturing of all systemsrelated to the mechanics ofthe revolving floors andinterface between the floors(plumbing, electricity, etc) aswell as the computerisedcontrol system.

● LEHR – World leader of MEPengineering, NY.

● Barker Mohandes - Among thelargest vertical transportationengineering, Connecticut.

● Kerakoll SpA, Italian leader forspecial construction materials.

● Leonardo da Vinci smartbathroom – Manufacturers ofluxury marble bathrooms,based in Italy.

● Kriston Enterprises Ltd., ofGreece, a constructionmanagement company, and oneof the main shareholders ofthe Dynamic Group.

● Turner International, leaders ofproject management ofskyscrapers, will act as theproject managers of theMoscow Rotating Tower.

the Russian capital. “Additional Dynamic Towers will be built around theworld, following an expression of interest from developers, governmentsand public officials to construct a similar Dynamic Towers in Canada,Germany, Italy, Korea and Switzerland. Our intention is to build the thirdrotating skyscraper in New York,” says Dr. Fisher.

The design and the floorplanDubai Development Ltd.’s rotating tower is headed by the Dynamic Group.The building will have 80 floors and will be 420 metres (1,380 feet) tall.Apartments will range in size from 124 sq mt (1,334 sq ft), to villas of1,200 sq mt (12,916 sq ft), complete with a parking space inside theapartment. The first 20 floors will consist of offices; floors 21 to 35 will bea luxury hotel; floor 36 through 70 will be residential apartments; and, thetop 10 floors will be luxury villas.

The Dynamic Tower in Dubai will be the first skyscraper to be entirelyconstructed in a factory from prefabricated parts, which will require only600 people in the assembly facility and 80 technicians resulting in fastconstruction and substantial cost savings. This also requires far fewerworkers on the construction site, Buildings will follow the rhythms of

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nature – they will change direction and shape from spring tosummer, from sunrise to sunset, and adjust themselves tothe weather, thereby dramatically lowering constructioncosts. The apartments, which are expected to take betweenone and three hours to make a complete rotation, will costfrom $3.7-million to $36-million. The skyscraper will cost anestimated $700-million to build and should be up andrunning in Dubai by 2010.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum,the ruler of Dubai and vice president of the United ArabEmirates, is considered by many to be a true visionary of thefuture. Dr. Fisher’s dreams for the Dynamic Tower in Dubaiwere inspired by His Highness who said, “Do not wait forthe future to come to you; face the future.” The DynamicTower offers infinite design possibilities, as each floor rotatesindependently to create a building that constantly changesshape, resulting in a unique and ever-evolving architecturalstructure.

The future of construction The pre-assembled units are simply hooked to each othermechanically, thus resulting in environmentally cleanconstruction sites, avoiding unloading of materials, waste,noise and pollution and less risk of accidents to constructionworkers. Moreover, construction time will be reduced byover 30 percent. Each floor of the building can be completedin only seven days equipped with all necessary plumbing andelectric systems, including all finishing – from flooring toceilings, bathrooms, kitchens, cabinets, lighting andfurniture.

This approach, known as the Fisher Method, also requiresfar less workers on construction site while each floor of thebuilding can be completed in only seven days, and units canalso be customised according to the owners needs andstyles. Due to their peculiar construction method,prefabricated buildings will also be easy to maintain andrepair. Thus, the building’s maintenance facility, type ofmaterials used, and the quality control employed will makethem more durable than any traditional structure.

“Today’s life is dynamic. So, the space we are living inshould be dynamic as well, adjustable to our needs thatchanges continuously, to our concept of design and to ourmood. Buildings will follow the rhythms of nature; they willchange direction and shape from spring to summer, fromsunrise to sunset and adjust themselves to the weather.Buildings will be alive. From now on, buildings will have fourdimensions, the fourth dimension being ‘Time’, to becomepart of architecture,” states Dr. Fisher.

Engineering marvelThe Dynamic Tower takes the concept of green buildings tothe next level where it will generate electricity for itself aswell as other nearby buildings, making it the first skyscraperdesigned to be self-powered. The building generateselectricity from wind turbines mounted horizontally betweeneach floor. The 80 storey building will have up to 79 windturbines, making it a true green power plant. Whiletraditional vertical wind turbines have some environmental

negative impact, including obstruction of views and the needfor roads to build and maintain them, the Dynamic Tower’swind turbines are practically invisible and extremely quietdue to their special shape and the carbon fibre material theyare made of.

Another environmentally green element of the DynamicTower is the photovoltaic cells that will be placed on theroof of each rotating floor to produce solar energy.“Approximately 20 percent of each roof will be exposed tothe sun. So, a building that has 80 roofs will equal theroofing space of 10 similar size buildings,” informs Dr.Fisher. In addition, natural and recyclable materials,including stone, marble, glass and wood will be used for theinterior finishing. To further improve the energy efficiency ofthe Dynamic Tower, insulated glass and structural insulatingpanels will be employed.

Challenging Times Among the challenges faced were technical obstructions,such as connecting the plumbing with the same kind of shut-off valves used when refuelling an aircraft in flight. To takethe lift, residents have to step from the rotating floor intothe stationary central core.

Living and lifestyleDynamic Tower offers infinite design possibilities, such asthe design will allow each floor to turn independently usingvoice recognition technology and giving those inside an ever-changing view over the space of one to three hours. Thevoice recognition will be able to interpret such instructionsas ‘left’ or ‘right’ in English, Arabic or Italian, but anylanguage could be programmed in for further buildings. Thebuildings can also be adjusted to the season, the weather, orto capture a special moment.

Luxury penthouse villas, which will be over 1,000 sq mt(11,000 sq ft), will be completely custom-made to fulfillindividual buyer’s personal needs, which will also include anindoor swimming pool, and voice activated features likedemotic control systems, built-in phone system and anyother special desire, all custom made. Bathrooms will bepreassembled at the Leonardo da Vinci factory in Italy, partof the Dynamic Group, and will be made of precious Italianmarble, sauna, Turkish bath, chromatography and soundtherapy. The Villa’s residents will have the possibility to drivedirectly into the building where a special elevator will taketheir car to their floor and park at the entrance to their villa.

Moscow Rotating SkyscraperMoscow too will have its rotating skyscraper soon to becomethe new icon of the Russian capital. This tower will have 70storeys, 400 mt high (1,312 ft). The developer is theinternational Moscow-based, Mirax Group Company, headedby Sergei Polonsky. The volume of investments into thetower construction is going to exceed $400-million. The totalarea of the tower will be almost 110,000 sq mt (118, 4000sq ft) with offices and retail premises as well as apartmentsand penthouses. The project, to be realised in the new areaof Moscow City within the limits of the third transport ring,

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is now in the stage of advanced design and coordination.The beginning of construction is planned for the end of theyear, and the commissioning of the tower into operation willbe for 2010. Some of the main features of the rotatingskyscraper are:

The towerThe project will offer apartments with astonishing viewvillas, which can rotate according to the sun – from sunriseto sunset, just by a voice-activated system. It has state-of-the-art design details, very high quality finishing,sophisticated electronic devices, custom-made luxuryapartments, complete guaranteed maintenance service, mostadvanced safety system pools and sauna at the apartmentsand penthouses.

According to the chairman of the Mirax Group, SergeyPolonsky, “The brightest feature of the building will berotation of most floors around the central core, irrespectiveof the movement of other floors. Thus, floors will not only beidentical but will allow the building to change the formconstantly. Another characteristic feature of the building willbe the system of connection of pipelines where allengineering systems of the central core will be connected tothe rotating parts of floors, which will allow using water,electricity, heating and the sewerage in the apartments in ahabitual mode. The method of construction will also beunique, like the central core, and will be poured in place andthe floors will be made section by section at a factory and

fastened to the core when assembled, with all MEP systemsand, probably, even furniture.” This method will allow toreduce the time of construction minimum to 30 percent andessentially lower the site pollution during construction. TheRotating Tower of Moscow will be one of the most exclusiveworld residential buildings. ●

Dr. David Fisher began his

career in Florence Italy, after

graduating with honour in

architecture from the

University of Florence. He

later became a lecturer of

Architecture and Structural

Engineering at the same

university. Over the last

three decades, he has been

designing buildings in

harmony with nature, as well

as redefining the technical

and technological extremes of buildings. Among the

technologies he developed was the ‘Smart Marble

bathrooms’ by Leonardo Da Vinci system, a completely

pre-assembled marble construction for luxury hotels and

homes. The Smart Bathroom is the first mechanical

approach to civil construction and the only existing factory

produced and integrated bathroom system.

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