Structural design of The Icon Hotel in Dubai, UAE

This paper presents aspects of the structural engineering behind The Icon Hotel, a 42-storey tower set to form part of the Dubai Promenade in Dubai, a new waterfront development by Nakheel. With its unique 'doughnut' shape, this building has significant design and construction challenges. It is designed to accommodate hotel and residential occupancies together with the associated mechanical floors. The building's primary structural system consists of two concrete core walls placed 96m apart at either end of the building and partially coupled by three mega steel trusses at upper mechanical floor as well as three long-span steel arches located at the top level to form the required shape of the building. Several design parameters such as the main gravity and lateral load resisting systems, floor system, and axial column shortening are discussed. In addition, the site geotechnical conditions, wind tunnel study and seismic hazard study output are also presented. Performance based seismic design analysis is also used to evaluate the building behaviour during future anticipated earthquakes. This paper discusses the technical complexities and innovative structural solutions which underpin this piece of cutting edge architecture.

Farshad Berahman, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD
Senior Structural Engineer

Eur.-Ing Matthew Esther, BEng (Hons.), CEng, FIStructE, MICE, MSFE
Associate Structural Engineer

Robert Scott, BSc, CEng, MICE
Associate Structural Engineer

Ranjith E. Chandunni, MTech
Associate Structural Engineer

Dipl.-Ing., Eur.-Ing Karsten Veith, (FH), MSc
Senior Structural Engineer