Capital Gate in Abu Dhabi is set to enter the Guinness Book of Records

as the 'world's most inclined tower.' It will lean 4 times as far as

Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Capital Gate will accommodate the 5-star Hyatt at Capital Centre hotel

and will provide the most exclusive office space in Abu Dhabi. The

tower forms a major part of the Capital Centre development, a $2.2

billion business and residential micro city being constructed around

the thriving Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

The new 200 room, 5-star hotel to be operated by Hyatt International

will open in late 2009 and will be the first Hyatt operated hotel in

the UAE capital. In recognition of its significance and its stature,

Hyatt International has named the hotel 'Hyatt at Capital Centre'. It

will be one of the most exclusive business hotels in the world. Hyatt

International already operates 3 luxury hotels in Dubai, UAE under the

brands Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency.

Capital Gate leans westward an astonishing 18 degrees; by comparison

the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans less than 4 degrees. Because of its

unique posture, the tower is being constructed on top of an incredibly

dense mesh of reinforced steel. The dense mesh sits above an intensive

distribution of 490 piles which have been drilled 30 meters underground

to accommodate the gravitational, wind and seismic pressures caused by

the lean of the building.

Its graceful, asymmetric diagonal structure, known as a 'diagrid',

supports the tilting external load of the building and we believe that

this is the first building in the world to use a pre-cambered core.

Other diagrid buildings include the Hearst Tower in NYC and the

Gherkin in London.

Besides being believed to be the 'world's most inclined' building,

Capital Gate also features 728 unique custom-made diamond-shaped

glazing panels. Due to the structure's curving shape, each pane of

glass is different and each will be fitted at a slightly different

angle.

Photo credit: RMJM