Shams Voxel Tower

Prominently located, Shams C-13 (Shams Voxel Tower) is a 38-storey residential tower, completing the cluster of buildings that flank the elliptical marina of Reem Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE, with extraordinary views of the Arabian Sea. The architectural concept was inspired by a method that identifies a basic module, to govern the architecture and interiors. Used in various combinations, these modules create a variety of apartment options, achieved by means of pixilation. The mass is broken into smaller habitable modules - voxels (3D-pixels) - spiraling the tower, creating apartments with variety of views towards the Arabian Gulf, the marina and the promenade. Designed not only as a striking residential facility, Shams Voxel Tower is destined to be a high-end social venue, contributing to the overall urban character and strong cultural and environmental identity of the ambitious Al Reem Island development. The project comprises two vital components: the tower and the podium. The 145m-high residential tower sits upon a 3-level podium that includes townhouses on the upper 2 levels, overlooking the marina promenade, as well as parking and ground level retail and public activity areas. Exceptionally, the 36th level is a luxurious composition of penthouses, with generous views and balconies. The project intends to support the latest technologies and professional services, for a comfortable, convenient and fashionable lifestyle, while satisfying all sustainable building parameters. Perceived as a pixel arrangement, seemingly breaking away from a monolithic structure, the tower design is not merely a façade exercise, but a fully-resolved volume solution, exemplifying the right balance between intuitive and parametric design. These pixels create an aesthetic beauty, different buyer options and satisfy client parameters: extended enclosed spaces result in projections benefiting one buyer with panoramic vistas, while creating a balcony for the apartment above, in an organic pattern, wrapping around the building like a ribbon. The townhouses on the podium borrow their character from the same language that helps break away from the prevalent pixel-stacking design approach, resulting in separate volumes with gardens in between, providing the residents a sizeable spillover. The roof of the podium boasts an Olympic-sized pool. Local climate conditions and energy conservation strategies were considered, whereby the floor plates, interior spaces and extent of exterior balconies were configured to reduce the solar heat gain and ultimately reduce energy usage.