General Information

Location: Bahrain, Manama

Height: 240 m / 787 ft
Height Occupied: 168.8 m / 554 ft
Total Building Area: 1,291,699 SF
Floors: 50 (45 excluding mezzanines as well as a 4.5 deep single story
basement)
Total Building Area: 1,291,699 sf
Number of Occupants: 6458 people (based on 200 SF/person estimate)
Site Area: 45,000 m2
Wind Turbine Diameter (Rotor): 29 m
Building Elevation Area: 53500 m2

Floor Plan
Structural System
The structural design of the Bahrain World Trade Center presented
many challenges due to its unique incorporation of wind turbines. Two
major challenges became apparent during initial research. The first
challenge was how to incorporate the wind turbines into the design of
the buildings. Instead of placing the turbines on top of the building,
where the maximum amount of wind would be, the architect wanted to
incorporate them into the buildings design by placing them on bridges
that connect the twin towers. Wind turbines require uninterrupted
winds coming directly at them in order to work and are therefore placed
on vertical poles with rotors that enable them to turn towards the wind.
By putting wind turbines on a bridge they will be horizontally mounted
and unable to turn to face changing winds. The second major challenge
was the stacking of the wind turbines. Wind speed increases with
height, therefore the highest turbine will spin faster than the two below
it. The problem with this is that all three turbines must rotate at the
same time or the top turbine will wear out.
The solutions to these challenges were the design of the building. The
elliptical shape and the orientation of the twin towers were designed to
funnel the wind directly at the turbines, compensating for their inability
to rotate. The tapering of the building means that more wind will be
directed to the lower turbine than the higher one, allowing all three to
rotate at the same speed and producing the same amount of power.

Once the initial challenges were overcome technical challenges

became present to the engineers. The placement of a wind turbine on a
bridge presents the possibility of resonance. This means that if the
blade and the bridge ever vibrate at the same time they will amplify
each other, causing the bridge to fail. The engineers overcame this
challenge by increasing the bridges rigidness, allowing it to vibrate
faster than the turbine and therefore eliminating the risk of resonance.

The next challenge the engineers had to face in the structural design of
the building was that if the wind were to suddenly change direction, or if
a gust of wind were to suddenly occur, the blades of the turbine could
strike the bridge. A typical wind turbine is designed with a 5o tilt to
avoid the risk of the blade striking the pole, but that is not possible on
the bridge. Tests performed by the engineers showed that each blade is
capable of deflecting 3.3 ft back. The engineers developed a new
bridge design to eliminate the possibility of the blade striking the
bridge. The new design of the bridge was a slight V-shape; the sides
were drawn back allowing a 5.6 ft distance between the blade and
bridge.

Another issue with locating large, 95 ft diameter, wind turbines so close

to offices is the noise factor. To reduce the noise caused by the wind
turbines the glass closest to the turbines was increased in thickness.

The final challenge presented by the structural design was lifting the
three wind turbines, each weighing 11 tons, and attaching them to the
bridges, which weigh 68 tons each. To overcome this challenge a 886 ft
crane was installed between the towers.
 Electromechanical & HVAC System

Due to the extreme temperatures, even with the specialized windows, a

lot of heat will be entering the building. This will require a compensation
in terms of HVAC loads, as well as the fact that air conditioning is
usually all year round in areas like Bahrain, where all indoor areas are
ventilated.

Heating the building will cost $678,917 for 6 months of winter and
cooling the building will cost $1,980,175 for 6 months of summer. These
numbers came out this way because the average temperature in
Bahrain during the summer seems to be significantly higher than room
temperature, which requires a lot of cooling.

This building is fairly difficult to analyze based on its tapered design and
multi-use facilities. To get a better understanding of the entire
buildings HVAC loads would require more time and depends on the
availability of data for the buildings efficiencies and uses.

Mechanical Figure 2. Section through wind turbine

The Bahrain WTC uses a
typical VAV system, which is supplied
by chilled water, to supply air to the
different spaces. Since this is a
commercial building, each tenant has
control of their own VAV box.
 Fire Fighting System

The fire and life safety systems include automatic smoke detectors and
fire sprinkler protection which is designed to control a fire henceforth
decreasing the need to evacuate all
occupants. Fire extinguishers are also placed in each corridor.

The normal fire evacuation procedures state that the occupants of the
fire floor and the floors immediately above and below it should
immediately use the exit stairs to descend to a floor level that is at least
several floors below the fire floor, and await further instruction from
safety officials.
Each building has a senior official as well as a nominated deputy and
each floor has a fire warden. The fire wardens are responsible for
ensuring that the workers are aware of the location of the fire alarm
points. The workers are trained to know the fire emergency evacuation
plan. They also have to ensure the regular use of the primary and
secondary escape routes. Regular drills should be carried out using
varying escape routes assuming the normal evacuation route is not
available. An assembly point should also be determined and a roll call of
workers taken. These assembly points should be far enough from the
building so as to ensure that workers are not in danger of falling debris
 Major Services

240m height twin office towers

New shopping mall
Anchor tenant
Garden court
Business complex
Food outlets

New shopping mall. This is an extension to the shopping mall that was
originally constructed. It consists of one story which is built according
to the same building statures, spatial parameters, mall measurements
and shop sizes as the previous mall, in order to add more boutiques.

Anchor tenant. The entire area between the two pedestrian spines to
the front of the mall is occupied by an exclusive display area for an
anchor tenant. For the exclusive use of privileged clienteles to the
anchor shop, a private VIP lift lobby with its own VIP parking bays is
found in the basement.

Garden court. This is a feature shared by both the malls. It is a

spectacular sky-lit, circular, indoor patio garden that forms the
centerpiece of both malls. This acts as a well-ventilated transition area
between the Malls and the Sheraton Hotel.

Office towers. These twin towers are constructed opposite King Faisal
Highway, adjoining the main entry point. The towers are 240m tall and
each consists of 45 functioning office floors. A business center, a
cafeteria, and an exclusive health club are situated at the platform
level. At ground level and at podium level, entrance drop-offs are
provided.

Car parking. Up to 1,670 cars can be parked in the car park, including
1175 covered spaces and 473 open parking.
 Smart Features

High speed broadband internet access with IP telephony and

wireless, unified messaging on a single converged voice-data-
video network
Advanced security systems with intelligent secured access,
protection, surveillance, warning and responses
Intelligent lighting control enabling architectural lighting and
energy management
District cooling system provides a cost effective environmentally
friendly alternative to traditional air conditioning systems
Exceptional management systems to reduce costs, and deliver
one bill to occupants that include rent, energy and info COMM
technology (ICT) services

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have learned that the Bahrain World Trade Center is a

one of a kind green building with a unique architecture. It is the first
building to have been designed to use wind turbines to convert wind
energy to electrical energy. It is also equipped with other green
technologies besides the wind turbines so as to provide for most of the
energy that the building will consume. We have also learned about all
the difficulties that they had to face during the construction process
was quite a complicated one. During this case study, we have also
learned how to work as a team.
 Khulna University of Engineering & Technology

Architectural Design of High Rise Building

BECM 3124

Submission on
Bahrain World Trade Center

Submitted By
Md. Rashid Mujahid (1423010)
Md. Shohanur Rahman (1423011)
Md. Rumayel Hasan (1423028)
Md. Sharif Uddin (1423037)
Md. Jihan Rabbani (1423041)
Md. Samiul Kabir (1423052)

Department of
Building Engineering Construction Management