Arquitectonica Designs Symbolic Gateway Tower to Reem Island, Abu Dhabi

Arquitectonica Designs Symbolic Gateway Tower to Reem Island, Abu Dhabi

July 24, 2007

Tower among tallest in the country; architect going for
LEED Certification


    MIAMI, July 24 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Designed to take
full advantage of the commanding views of the Persian Gulf
and Abu Dhabi, international architecture firm
Arquitectonica has designed Sky Tower -- the 300-meter
(83-story) first tower in The Gate development -- to be the
tallest tower in Abu Dhabi and the fifth tallest in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE).  The tower aspires to be the
first building in the UAE to achieve certification under
the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) rating.

    Sky Tower along with the five 62-story and two 31-story
towers comprise "The Gate" a project on Reem
Island with almost 1 million square meters of luxury,
state-of-the-art residential and commercial spaces,
designed to provide a home in the sky, providing expansive
views of the island and coast.  

    The property is owned and developed by the Sorouh Real
Estate Development, which won the "Best Developer --
Commercial Project Award" for the Gate at the
Cityscape Abu Dhabi awards ceremony in May 2007.  When
completed the Gate will contain 810,000 square meters
(2,657,480 SF) of residential space, 105,000 square meters
(344,488 SF) of office space and 13,500 square meters
(44,291 SF) of retail space. 

    "The urban significance of the site as the visual
gateway to a new city required a corresponding
architectural response," said Bernardo Fort-Brescia,
FAIA, Arquitectonica's founder and the project's design
architect.  "We created a monumental portico with a
tall elliptical tower rising above it to announce the
island from afar.   The elliptical form makes it
multidirectional, intended to be seen from land and sea,
city and island. Its cantilevered bay windows stack
vertically and stagger in movement, speeding towards the
skies and forming a series of interior rooms that project
into pure space."

    OF SPECIAL NOTE:

    -- The complex offers a total of more than 4,600
residential units with
       underground parking, gardens and event terraces.
    -- Residential floor areas range from one bedroom of 87
square meters
       (936 SF) to penthouses of 514 square meters (5,525
SF).
    -- Arquitectonica Interiors is the project's interior
designer and 
       Arquitectonica GEO is the project's landscape
architect.


    Arquitectonica is a full-service architecture, interior
design, landscape architecture and planning firm that began
30 years ago in Miami.  Today, the firm has 500 employees
and designs many building types including
Cultural/Institutional, Education, Government/Public,
Hospitality, Interiors, Mixed Use, Office, Planning, Public
Assembly/Sports, Residential, Retail/Restaurant and
Transportation.

    Arquitectonica ( http://www.arquitectonica.com ) is
directed by offices in Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Paris,
Madrid, Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Manila, Lima, Sao Paulo
and Buenos Aires.   Affiliated companies: Arquitectonica
Interiors ( http://www.arquitectonicainteriors.com ) and
Arquitectonica GEO ( http://www.arquitectonicageo.com ).

    NOTE TO EDITORS:

    IMAGES AVAILABLE BY REQUEST AT
[e-mail].


    For more information, please contact:

     Jeanne Albrecht
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]