Capital Gate leans westward an astonishing 18 degrees; by comparison the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans less than 4 degrees. Because of its unique posture, the tower is being constructed on top of an incredibly dense mesh of reinforced steel. The dense mesh sits above an intensive distribution of 490 piles which have been drilled 30 metres underground to accommodate the gravitational, wind and seismic pressures caused by the lean of the building.
Simon Horgan CEO of ADNEC Group said, "Capital Gate will be a building that the world will talk about, not because it has surpassed another building as the world's tallest, but because of its aesthetic splendour and technical achievement."
"Capital Gate will be one of a kind," added David Pringle, CEO, RMJM Asia and the Middle East. "Its graceful, asymmetric diagonal structure, known as a 'diagrid', supports the tilting external load of the building and we believe that this is the first building in the world to use a pre-cambered core."
Besides being believed to be the 'world's most inclined' building, Capital Gate also features 728 unique custom-made diamond-shaped glazing panels. Due to the structure's curving shape, each pane of glass is different and each will be fitted at a slightly different angle.
Capital Gate will accommodate the 5-star 'Hyatt at Capital Centre' hotel and will provide the most exclusive office space in Abu Dhabi. The tower forms a major part of the Capital Centre development, an AED8 billion (US$2.2 billion) business and residential micro city being constructed around the thriving Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
