Description of the Project:
The project is a headquarters office building for the Arcapita Bank B.S.C.(c) to be located in the Bahrain Bay, Manama Kingdom of Bahrain. The reclaimed footprint area of the Arcapita site is 48,017m2. The project consists of two structures, an Office Tower with basement Parking Garage and a Mosque.
The Arcapita Headquarters is composed of three principle structural sections:
1.) a raised box of office space penetrated vertically by a central atrium,
2.) a lower lobbies and auditorium inset below the double wave structure and
3.) a single-story parking level in the basement that extends beyond the above-grade footprint of the building
Twin concrete cores with full height, 60 cm thick exterior walls support all the gravity an lateral loads from the raised box portion described below. The office block will have a total of 6 stories above-grade (excluding the mechanical penthouse) with a height of approximately 40.645m and total area of about 39,861 m2.
There will be a basement that will house support functions including emergency generators, miscellaneous ventilation equipment, and building service spaces for the office tower. Additionally there is one below-grade parking level. The lobby level and auditorium are approximately 1 meter above the surrounding street elevations. The main elevator banks will be accessed from a building lobby at this level.
Floors 1 through 5 of the office block, with floor plates of approximately 5,086m2, are office floors. The entire 6'h floor will house rooftop mechanical equipment as well as elevator machine rooms and facade maintenance equipment. At its west end, the box structure has a recessed glazed opening made possible by 8 m cantilevers within the end of the box itself. The same condition is reproduced on the east end with shorter 2 m cantilevers. The cantilevered open end portions of the box are framed all around with composite construction - a concrete shell encasing steel spandrels top and bottom
The primary exterior wall system that will constitute the entire tower portion of the project will be comprised a curtain wall system that will act as the building's barrier to air and water infiltration with an internally mechanically ventilated curtain wall with a cavity containing an automated sun shading device. The lower portion, or podium level, will comprise a curtain wall system with structurally reinforced mullions and shading device.
The interior ends of the double waves touch down in the basement level where their loads are transferred to a pair of pile groups. The outer ends of the waves touch down on a massive concrete plinth on piles at the water and a mat and pile foundation at the land side. The waves are of composite construction: a grid of steel beams embedded in a concrete slab with an overall thickness of 80 cm.
The Parking Garage is approximately 20,450m2 and is situated one level below the building footprint and extends beyond the above grade footprint of the building. The parking garage has the capacity to contain about 525 passenger cars. Construction is a hybrid of concrete and composite.
The Mosque is a two level structure with approximately 750m2 situated within the landscape and framed by a perimeter skylight. The program contains prayer spaces, ablution rooms, and open courtyard facing Mecca. There is also a 50m tall minaret adjacent to the Mosque. Construction is a hybrid of concrete and composite.