Capital Gate is a mixed use skyscraper in Abu Dhabi adjacent to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre designed with a striking lean. At 160 m (520 ft) and 35 storeys, it is one of the tallest buildings in the city and features a dramatic 18 degree incline to the west.[3] The owner and developer of Capital Gate is Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company. The tower is the focal point of the Capital Centre/ Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre master development.

World Records:

In June 2010, the Guinness Book of World Records certified Capital Gate as the “World’s furthest leaning man-made tower.”[4][5] The new record shows that the Capital Gate tower has been built to lean 18 degrees westwards; more than four times that of the world famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. Investigation and evaluation, which was made by a Guinness appointed awards committee, started in January of 2010, when the exterior was completed.
The gravitational pressure caused by the 18 degree incline is countered by the world's first "pre-cambered core"; a technique that utilizes 15,000 cubic metres of concrete reinforced with 10,000 tons of steel with the core deliberately built slightly off centre. It has straightened as the building has risen, compressing the concrete and giving it strength, and moving into (vertical) position as the weight of the floors has been added. . Capital Gate is also anchored to the Earth by 490 piles which are drilled over 30m deep.

Architecture and design:

The building has an extra-ordinary exoskeleton or “diagrid” to absorb and channel the forces created by wind and seismic pressure as well as the gradient of Capital Gate. Each and every element of the grid is unique in geometry. Capital Gate is thought to be the Middle East's first building to use a diagrid; others around the world include London's 30 St Mary Axe (Gherkin), New York's Hearst Tower and Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium.
The Capital Gate project was able to achieve its record inclination through a special engineering breakthrough that allows floor plates to be stacked vertically up to the 12th storey and staggered over each other by between 300mm to 1400mm, which allows for the towers dramatic lean.
Capital Gate was designed by international architectural firm RMJM and was due for completion by the end of 2010. Upon completion, Capital Gate will house the 5-star Hyatt Capital Gate hotel as well as approximately 20,000sqm of premium office space. Each room is different as is each pane of façade glass and every interior angle.
Its double-glazed façade achieves greater energy efficiency with waste air being pre-cooled between the inner and outer façades, before being expelled, and the glass façade is of low emissivity and is the first time it has been used in the UAE. It keeps the building’s interior cool and eliminates glare, while maintaining transparency.
The distinctive stainless steel ‘splash’ that descends from the 19th floor, is a design element and a shading device that eliminates over 30 percent of the sun’s heat before it reaches the building. The splash also twists around the building towards the south to shield the tower as much as possible from direct sunlight. A cantilevered tea lounge overhangs the tower’s exterior, 80m above the ground, with an internal diagrid used to create a tapered, 60m high atrium. The tower’s foundation is a dense mesh of reinforced steel above 490 piles, drilled 20 - 30 meters underground.

Project time line:

September 2007- Enabling works commence
November 2007 - Pile driving starts
April 2008 - Core wall construction starts
February 2009 - Façade commences
May 2009 - Reaches 100m in height
June 2009 – Incline starts to take shape
October 2009 - Attains final height of 160m
December 2009 - Completion of exterior core structure
January 2010 - First phase of splash completed
February 2010 - Interior fit-out commences
March 2010 – Commencement of link bridge to Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre
April 2010 – Commencement of atrium roof
End 2010 – Expected completion of construction
Opening date – To be decided.