RAS AL-KHAIMAH, UAE | Hotel Cobra (Gateway Building) | 656 FT / 200 M | 45 FLOORS

[Þróndeimr]

Hotel Cobra - The Gateway of Ras Al Khaimah
"Ras Al-Khaimah Gateway Project"
Ras Al Khaimah - UAE

Sheik Saud and Rakeen of Ras Al-Khaimah has appointed the Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta (famous from Bibliotheca Alexandrina and Oslo Opera House) the prestigious task of creating an iconic gateway building for the new capital city of Ras Al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. The approx. 300,000 m2 complex will contain a Congress Center, Exhibition Halls, Shopping Center, 5+ Star Hotel, 5 Star Hotel, and a 4 Star Hotel. Construction will start in 2008/2009 with completion in 2011.

From Snøhetta's website:
Snøhetta has been commissioned by the Ras Al Khaimah investment Authority and RAKEEN to undertake the architectural design for the Gateway project in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. Situated in the desert 150 km to the east of Dubai this landmark project will mark the gateway to the emirate and form the entrance to the new planned capital city of Ras Al Khaimah.

The urban master plan for the city is currently being under taken by the Netherlands based architectural practice OMA. The Gateway project is situated at the entrance to the city and will form a landmark for the city entrance.

The architectural expression for our proposal is inspired by the surrounding desert and mountain landscape. This concept provides for an infinite variety of naturally shaded, intimate and protected spaces, around which the multiple uses associated with the development are woven. The undulating architectural landscape is resolved in a dramatic landmark tower marking the main gateway plaza. This 200 m high tower will be the setting for a 5 star plus hotel affording panoramic views across the emirate, to the gulf and mountains beyond.

The programme calls for a mixed-use development comprising a conference centre, exhibition centre, hotels and retail space. In total it is expected to be 270 000m2 of build area. In addition there will be substantial areas of associated garden and landscape. Externally the building will be clad in ceramic panels, this will be developed together with Ras Al Khaimah ceramics, one of the world leading producers of ceramic products.

[CapitalCity]

wow, awesome building! it does look like a cobra!

[staff]

Very nice. I love Snöhetta (but I don't like the Oslo Opera House).

[Dequal]

This is a very nice design. But I was wondering that all those small triangles at the side of the towers would be windows (picture 5) or that the whole side was some kind of translucent (picture 3)?

[TANGELD_SLC]

WOW this Hotel is amazing!
I love it. It has a very organic structuring about it; like it grew out of the desert. It also has a somewhat alien feel to it, which only adds to it's allure.

[Þróndeimr]

Originally Posted by staff

Very nice. I love Snöhetta (but I don't like the Oslo Opera House).

Actually i was impressed by it when i finally saw it in reality, since i didn't like it much either. But they could have done so much better if this was a different country!

Originally Posted by Dequal

This is a very nice design. But I was wondering that all those small triangles at the side of the towers would be windows (picture 5) or that the whole side was some kind of translucent (picture 3)?

Here is an article about facade, though these renderings doesn't show the final design which can be seen in the newest renderings i posted at the first post here.

Facade study, The Gateway Project
A facade study investigating cladding concepts for the shell-surface of The Gateway Project in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.

The shell-surface is populated by a generative component. (2x2m) This component is driven by a set of rules. Each instance of the generative component analyses its own global orientation and position on the overall geometry of the structure and changes accordingly.

The component has two variables; its aperture (view and daylight) and its depth (shading). The aperture and depth of the component decreases towards the edge of the structure to facilitate a clean cut. Maximum aperture occurs when the component is vertical and facing north. Minimum aperture occurs at edges and when the component is horizontal, reflecting the more intense solar heating. The size of the aperture is also driven by program requirements. The aperture is gradually changing across the surface between these extremes creating subtle changes and interesting micro contextual variations of the pattern.

As this is an associative parametric model, all the instances of the generative component change, in real-time, according to changes made to the overall geometry. The rules driving the generative component can also be changed or adjusted at any given time resulting in a real-time feedback in the viewport. When the model is properly set up, one can easily investigate an array of different options without doing any additional modeling.

Due to a high degree of complexity, (all instances of the generative component are unique) this cladding concept turned out to be too expensive to implement in the project.