The Yas Hotel Abu Dhabi by Asymptote Architecture Nears Completion

New York-based Asymptote Architecture nears completion of The Yas Hotel project in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The Yas Hotel is a 500-room, 85,000-square-meter complex now under construction by Aldar Properties PJSC. Asymptote was awarded the commission to design the buildings and environs from a closed competition two years ago targeting an opening date of October 30, 2009 to coincide with the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Yas Hotel is one of the main architectural features of the ambitious 36-billion-dollar Yas Marina development and accompanying Formula 1 raceway circuit, also near completion. Asymptote’s founders and partners Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture envisioned an architectural landmark embodying various key influences and inspirations ranging from the aesthetics and forms associated with speed, movement and spectacle to the artistry and geometries forming the basis of ancient Islamic art and craft traditions.

Of architectural and engineering significance is the main feature of the project’s design, a 217-meter expanse of sweeping, curvilinear forms constructed of steel and 5,800 pivoting diamond-shaped glass panels. This Grid-Shell component affords the building an architecture comprised of an atmospheric-like veil that contains two hotel towers and a link bridge constructed as a monocoque sculpted steel object passing above the Formula 1 track that makes its way through the building complex. The Grid-Shell visually connects and fuses the entire complex together while producing optical effects and spectral reflections that play against the surrounding sky, sea and desert landscape. The architecture as a whole “performs” as both an environmentally responsive solution as well as an architecture of spectacle and event. The entire jewel-like composition of the project responds visually and tectonically to its environment to create a distinct and powerful sense of place as well as a breathtaking backdrop to the Formula 1 and other events that the building will celebrate. The Yas Hotel is designed to be a significant landmark destination on Yas Island for Abu Dhabi and the UAE at large.

Hani Rashid describes the building’s design and its architecture as: “a perfect union and harmonious interplay between elegance and spectacle. The search here was inspired by what one could call the ‘art’ and poetics of motor racing, specifically Formula 1, coupled with the making of a place that celebrates Abu Dhabi as a cultural and technological tour de force.”

Project Credits

Lead Architects
Asymptote Architecture:
Principals Hani Rashid + Lise Anne Couture

Selected Consultants
Local Architects:
Dewan Architects & Engineers, Abu Dhabi
Tilke & Partners W.L.L., Dubai

Structural Engineers:
Dewan Architects & Engineers, Abu Dhabi
ARUP, New York

Grid-Shell Engineers:
Schlaich Bergermann und Partner (SBP), Stuttgart
Waagner-Biro, Vienna

MEP Engineer:
Red Engineering Middle East, Dubai

Façade Consultants:
Front Inc., New York
TAW & Partner, Hamburg

Grid-Shell Building Information Modeling (BIM) Consultant:
Gehry Technologies, Los Angeles & New York

Interior Architecture:
Jestico + Whiles, London
Richardson Sadeki, New York
De8 Architetti, Bergamo, Italy

Lighting Consultants:
LAPD Lighting Design, Hertfordshire, UK
Bartenbach LichtLabor GmbH, Innsbruck, Austria
Red Engineering Middle East, Dubai
ARUP Lighting, New York

Grid-Shell Lighting Consultant:
ARUP Lighting, New York

Link Bridge Engineers:
ARUP Bridge, New York
Centraal Staal, Groningen, The Netherlands

Landscape Design:
Cracknell Landscape Architects, Abu Dhabi