(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) The UAE capitals trophy cabinet keeps expanding. The latest accolade for Abu Dhabi is for being the city with the Worlds Furthest Leaning Manmade Tower.
Capital Gate, developed by Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC), has just been recognised by Guinness World Records for its astonishing 18-degree lean " more than four times that of the world famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Capital Gate is a landmark development for Abu Dhabi and this (Guinness World Record) recognition places it among the worlds great buildings. It is a signature building which speaks to the foresight of the emirate, according to the ADNEC Chairman, Shaikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan.
Unlike the Leaning Tower of Pisa however, Capital Gate has been deliberately engineered to slant.
The 160-meter, 35-storey towers floor plates are stacked vertically up to the 12th storey after which they stagger over each other by between 300mm to 1,400mm giving rise to the towers dramatic lean.
The tower also features other innovative techniques including the worlds first known use of a pre-cambered core, which contains more than 15,000 cubic metres of concrete reinforced with 10,000 tonnes of steel. The core, deliberately built slightly off centre, has straightened as the building has risen, compressing the concrete and giving it strength, and moving into (vertical) position as the weight of the floors has been added.
Thanks to the gravity-defying lean of the building, each room in the tower is different, as is each pane of faade glass and every interior angle.
Both ADNEC and our partners have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to create an iconic structure which is not only distinctive in appearance but also extremely functional, notes Ali Saeed Bin Harmal Al Dhaheri, ADNECs Managing Director. When fully complete by the end of this year, the tower will house the five-star Hyatt Capital Gate hotel as well as approximately 20,000 square metres of premium office space.
The towers status as one of the worlds most complex engineering projects is being celebrated in an exclusive National Geographic television documentary " The Leaning Tower of Abu Dhabi.
The programme has been translated into 44 languages and will be broadcast in 166 countries reaching a potential audience of 200 million viewers. The Leaning Tower of Abu Dhabi is due to air in the Middle East next month.
