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Skyscrapers aren't designed in a vacuum — the local geography and weather play a pivotal role in how buildings are crafted. This is never more true than in the unforgiving desert landscape of Jeddah. The sun beats down on Saudi Arabia's second largest city with unrelenting intensity, so architects have an extra challenge on their hands when presented with the task of designing a practical and liveable building. In creating a 64-storey tower overlooking the Red Sea, the team at Perkins+Will has proven experience resolving the issues presented by the local environment.
Now rising in Jeddah, the under-construction Sail Tower will contain a Shangri-La hotel, serviced apartments, and condominiums under one roof. The building achieves its functional purpose, carefully balancing its different uses, while the facade performs additional duties related to overcoming issues like sun and wind. "Developers like to have buildings that are efficient and cost-effective," said Robert Goodwin, Design Director at the Perkins+Will New York office. "At the same time, they're looking for something beautiful."
Perkins+Will's design approach was influenced by the sights of the city and the daily lives of its residents. "We were inspired by looking out at the Red Sea, where these dhows move around with a triangular sail," said Goodwin. "We said maybe we can use that as an inspiration for the idea of this building — not so much the shape of the sail itself but the way it acts functionally. While it's a beautiful image, it also has a very strong functional aspect." An idea was born which would become the showpiece of the building's exterior expression. Adopting a local symbol and incorporating it into the design, the image is turned into a climatic and cultural response to the inherent challenges of building tall in a location rife with environmental constraints.
This inspiration manifests itself through the installation of 2,200 architectural sails on the facade. Repetitive panels of synthetic fabric framed around metal rotate as the building rises, standing perpendicular at the upper residential levels. By shifting the orientation of the sails, the building's porosity changes from a primarily impermeable surface at its base to a pattern of voids at the top. On these upper floors, balconies deepen nearly three metres, evoking the feeling of an indoor-outdoor room.
The configuration of the architectural sails addresses several problems. "It's a solar shade, it protects from the wind, it separates for privacy, and it orients your views because of its angling towards the water," said Goodwin. Each sail also possesses a programmable LED light fixture. "The notion is the motif and pattern created is not only helpful in the daytime but also at night. It really then holds a very strong identity and articulates the pattern of the building from a distance." Pointing to the building's rectangular profile, Goodwin continued, "it's less about creating a distinctive shape as it is about solving the actual problems of the building with the motif. That then becomes the distinctive identity because of the way it solves those problems."
Multiple cranes are servicing the busy construction site as the first levels of the tower take shape. A staggered pattern to the unclad podium's fenestration offers a glimpse of the street-level presence the building will have. To ensure the performance and durability of the sails, extensive wind tunnel testing will be conducted. Crews are now entering the sail mockup stage before the building accomplishes structural completion. The sails will be one of the last exterior elements to be installed.
With Jeddah emerging as a premier resort destination in the region, buildings are finding unique ways to adapt to difficult physical conditions. Conquering those challenges also presents an opportunity to creatively capture local norms and customs, infusing a display of unbridled playfulness that becomes just as much an icon as the emblems they reflect.
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