We all know that buildings don't always turn out like the renderings. Last-minute changes and real-life materials can all cause discrepancies between the vision and reality of a project. In our weekly Flash Forward Friday feature, we take a look at how different projects stack up.

Upon its completion in 2013, Dubai's Cayan Tower — previously the Infinity Tower — became the tallest skyscraper to feature a twist of 90 degrees. Though the Shanghai Tower has claimed that title, the Cayan Tower's helical shape set a new standard for the design of luxury skyscrapers in the city. Each floor plate, while identical in form, is shifted 1.2 degrees clockwise from the floor below. The result is an efficient and repetitive interior plan that still yields a distinct form.

Cayan Tower rendering, image via Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Before construction of the building began in 2006, renderings depicted a 73-storey twisting tower that would scale 306 metres above Dubai Marina. The neighbouring skyscrapers were formulaic in comparison, with wide balcony expanses articulating most of the exterior expression. It was envisioned that the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed building would instantly become a landmark in a sea of relatively impassive towers. 

The completed project, image retrieved from Google Street View

The building is composed of a cast-in-place reinforced-concrete column superstructure formed around a cylindrical concrete core. Its signature twist, metal cladding panels, and high-performance glass provide diffuse daylight to the interiors, while also protecting them from direct solar radiation. This architectural arrangement ensures the risk of glare is greatly reduced, the demand for cooling is diminished, and views are optimized. The building's distorted profile deflects the sand and dust carried by the northerly diurnal winds, thus minimizing the fine particles that could otherwise penetrate the facade and affect indoor air quality.

Cayan Tower (right) stands out among its neighbours, image by Flickr user Steven Straiton via Creative Commons

The retail colonnade at the tower's base, which connects to the waterfront promenade that fronts the site and wraps around the marina, is not quite as amorphous or transparent as the rendering initially suggested. But the fenestration of the building, including the crown and the six-level penthouse plans, were faithfully executed according to the marketing material.