Swiss cheese building

0-14  tower - photo by Cheryl

Dubai’s architectural smorgasbord of skyscrapers may be dominated by the Burj Khalifa, the Princess Tower and the twisted Cayan Tower, but a comparatively short structure in Business Bay is also a remarkable feat of engineering.

The 22-storey 0-14 tower locally nicknamed the ‘Swiss cheese building’ makes its mark on the city with a holey, curvaceous, poured concrete exoskeleton that supports a main enclosure within.

Architects Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto of RUR Architecture, New York, created the 40 cms thick outer shell of white concrete perforated with 1,326 different sized holes - giving it the appearance of a chunk of Emmental cheese - in a startling departure from the standard glass-clad box high rise.

The unique design of this 105.7-metre commercial tower on the extension of Dubai Creek has won many awards for the architects, and of particular significance is that five years after its completion the tower has matured well, just like a good cheese.

Says Reiser, “As compared to a typical aluminium glass curtain-wall tower, which begins to deteriorate visually in the extreme climate of Dubai, the desert gives the shell a patina that only improves the appearance of the building as it ages.” 

When Business Bay was first opened to development the brief from Creekside Development Company was simple: make the buildings different.

“It was one of the few radical projects that was proposed towards the end of the economic boom and successfully completed [in 2010], despite the economic downturn,” says Resier, whose only problem was how to build a stunning structure that wasn’t going to be like any other. Inspired by Islamic architecture, he noticed the effect of the jali, the latticed screen that moderates the amount of sunlight entering a space. While decorative, says Reiser, it is also functional for it shades a building from the heat of the sun.

About one metre away from the exoskeleton is an inner glass wall enclosure following its contours. The two are linked by structural concrete tongues, so allowing column-free open spaces in the building’s interior, where there’s a central stair and elevator core.

“The one-metre space between the façade and the building's glass surface creates a chimney effect causing hot air to rise, creating an efficient passive cooling system, therefore reducing the energy consumption by approximately 30 per cent,” says Vasileios Vatistas, Property Manager, H&H Property Management.

The architects found this project unique in many respects, including having close relationships with developer H&H Investment and Development, Erga Progress Engineering Consultants (ERGA) and contractor DCC Construction. “This was not a typical corporate project, it was very personal, and the work among the team members was very direct and we were all basically on the same page,” he says.

Named 0-14 after the Business Bay site number, the lace-like tower perched on a two-storey podium officially opened to the public in 2011.

Jesse Reiser & Nanako Umemoto

“Undoubtedly the O-14 tower has made its impact in the Business Bay area as an iconic landmark,” says Vatistas, adding that features include a-state-of-the-art hydraulic car park system, around the clock security services and amenities such as a ground floor café, 10,000 square foot of external terrace space, prayer rooms and four basement levels that hold up to 416 parking spaces and storage areas.

Awards for 0-14 include an Architecture Honour Award in the American Institute of Architects New York 2013 Annual Design Awards, the Concrete Industry Board’s 2009 Award of Merit, the American Council of Engineering Companies’ 2009 Diamond Award, a silver Emporis Skyscraper Award in 2009, an ACEC National Honour Award for Excellence in Engineering Design in 2010, and it was a finalist in the Best Tall Building in the Middle East and Africa 2010 Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat awards programme.

This is an engineering masterpiece that matures with age.