New York design firm [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] have won a competition to design a hotel in the Zayed Bay district of Abu Dhabi, UAE.


Called the Helix for its spiraling floors, the hotel is located in the bay and sits partially over the water.

The building includes a glass-bottomed swimming pool on the roof,
visible eight floors below, and a running track on the fifth floor.

It will be part of a new waterfront development in Abu Dhabi,
adjacent to the Sheik Zayed Bridge by Zaha Hadid Architects that is
currently under construction.

Here’s some more information from Leeser Architecture:
–
LEESER ARCHITECTURE WINS DESIGN COMPETITION FOR FIVE-STAR HOTEL IN ZAYED BAY, ABU DHABI
Iconic design and state of the art technology create dynamic mini-city in the UAE
Leeser Architecture, an internationally recognized design firm, has
won an invited competition for a five-star luxury hotel in the Zayed
Bay in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Called the Helix Hotel for its staggered floor
plates, it rests in the bay, partially floating in the water and
adjacent to the serpentine Sheik Zayed Bridge currently under
construction by designer Zaha Hadid. With the Helix, Leeser
Architecture has devised a new way to consider hotel culture in the
Emirates, highlighting elements that are usually unseen, and playfully
enlivening those parts that traditionally remain static and mundane.

The commission was the result of an invited competition held by Al
Qudra Real Estate in partnership with QP International, both local Abu
Dhabi holdings groups with projects featured across the UAE. Zayed Bay
will be a comprehensive development built along a new road, and the
site will include office buildings as well as condominiums and retail
along the water. The Helix is the centerpiece of this new development.

With 208 guest rooms and suites arranged around a helical floor, the
hotel immediately dispenses with the idea that visitors must engage in
the stale paradigms of rigid hallways and atria that characterize a
typical hotel stay. The floor constantly shifts in width and pitch as
it rises to the top floor, keeping public spaces always in flux. No two
rooms positioned across from each other have exact views to the other
side, already pulling the visitor out of the pedestrian and into the
hotel’s uniquely urban world. As the helix winds upward, programmatic
elements change from lounges and restaurants on the bay, to meeting
rooms and conference facilities, to lounges and cafes, to the luxury
indoor-outdoor health spa on the fifth floor, to, finally, the upper
pool deck on the roof. The running track on the fifth floor represents
the only moment when the ramping ceases and a flat surface prevails – a
sleight of hand on the architect’s part, and an unexpected luxury that
fit vacationers can enjoy in the cooler months.

Conceptually, the Helix Hotel participates in a critical dialogue
between opulence and urbanness, between the variety of services offered
by a small city and the demands of a five-star hotel guest. The floor
suggests the curves a winding street would take through a bustling
town, and many programmatic elements are open to views from across the
central void. Though the void seems to offer unmitigated visibility,
there are enclaves for private meetings and guest privacy. It is
designed so that one activity feeds into the next rather than affecting
sharp separations between each activity. In this way it develops a
feeling of being free to whimsically experience all aspects of the
hotel without having to decide on an agenda in advance.

On the luxury side of vacation culture, there are playful elements
that make the hotel a designer destination in an iconic setting. From
the outset, it is as much a showplace for the abundance of opulent life
as it is a fully incorporated urban experience. For example, the
building has a functional reverse fountain, which drops water from the
ceiling down through the void to the lower lobby. At the entry, valets
drive clients’ cars into the car park, which, rather than being
predictably above ground or underneath the hotel, is situated instead
under the bay. Cars are literally driven into the water.

As guests make their way up to their suites, remarkable views out
onto the Zayed Bay become even more dramatic on the upper floors. At
the top of the Helix, the rooftop pool deck features a full sized
swimming pool with a glass bottom, with the water and swimmers visible
from eight floors below at ground level. In the restaurant below the
lobby, the bay’s waves are so near to the floor plate that they lap up
onto the edge of the restaurant inside of the glass curtain wall. The
wall retracts, revealing a sweeping breeze.

While focusing on unique design, Leeser Architecture is also
committed to sound sustainability practices and worked with consultant
Atelier Ten to determine the best possible conditions and materials for
heat and energy conservation. The indoor waterfall allows for the
accumulation of heat inside the hotel to be minimal by filtering cool
water back up into the system as it falls through the void. In the
sub-lobby, a dynamic glass wall is built from the base of the second
floor down into the water. The wall acts as a curtain would, opening
when the weather is cool enough and closing when it is too hot for
exposure to the desert air. Portions of the outside surface are clad in
panels made of a new material called GROW, which has both photovoltaic
and wind harnessing capabilities.

Consultants on the project include ARUP (structural and mechanical design) and Atelier 10 (environmental and green design).


From dezeen.com