Zaha Hadid Architects has designed a 921,832-square-foot speculative office and retail complex in Dubai for Omniyat Properties. Called the Opus, it consists of three, 305-foot-tall towers that appear as a single cube with a 98-foot-wide, blob-shaped opening that pierces the buildings like a donut hole. “The idea is to create an opening to the city and to frame these views with a free-form void that has been eroded from the solidity of the building,” Hadid explains.

 

The towers’ column loads are transferred at the bottom two levels, creating a 16-foot setback at the bottom floor; this leaves the impression that the towers are floating. Formed of cast-in-place concrete, they will be sheathed in a curving glass curtain wall coated with a striated, mirrored pattern. Gray-tinted glass will clad surfaces surrounding the void to provide visual contrast.

 

In addition to sharing a single podium, two of the three towers will be connected a by steel-and-glass enclosed bridge. The 164-foot-long, three-story structure will house Omniyat’s Oyster concept: a tranquility zone of restaurants, fitness center, and napping pods for business executives. The bridge’s roof will contain a beach deck and pool with shaded terrace. The $465 million, multi-tenant Opus is expected to break ground in September and finish by late 2010.