Aspire Tower, also known as The Torch Doha, is a skyscraper hotel located in the

Aspire Zone Aspire Zone, also known as Doha Sports City, is a sporting complex located in the Baaya district of Al Rayyan, a suburb of Doha, Qatar. Owned by the Aspire Zone Foundation, it was established as an international sports destination in 2003 and ...

complex in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

. Designed by architect Hadi Simaan and AREP and engineer Ove Arup and Partners, the tower served as the focal point for the 15th Asian Games hosted by Qatar in December 2006. The tower is currently the tallest structure and building in Doha and Qatar, but it will be surpassed by the

Dubai Towers Doha Dubai Towers - Doha is a super-tall skyscraper with a roof height of ( spire height ) developing in Doha, Qatar. The estimated cost of Dubai Towers - Doha is 2.3 billion Qatari Riyal (US$620 million). When completed, the structure will be the tal ...

and the Barwa Tower, when either project is completed. The tower has also been known as Khalifa Sports Tower or Doha Olympic Tower.

Construction and use

The tower was a landmark of the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

due to its size and proximity to the main venue, the

Khalifa International Stadium Khalifa International Stadium (, , ) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Al Rayyan, Qatar, around west from the centre of Doha. Its ground comprises a running track and a grass pitch. Opened in 1976, the stadium was named after then-Emir ...

. The final form consists of a 1-to-1.8-metre-thick, reinforced-concrete cylinder (the core), varying from 12 to 18 metres in diameter, encircled with radiating networks of cantilevered steel beams on each floor of its building modules. The modules themselves are composed of steel columns, metal decking, concrete slabs and outer tension and compression ring beams, which support glass-paneled outer walls. The bottom of each module is covered with

glass fiber reinforced concrete Glass fibre reinforced concrete (GFRC) is a type of fibre-reinforced concrete. The product is also known as glassfibre reinforced concrete or GRC in British English. Glass fibre concretes are mainly used in exterior building façade panels and ...

. Beams, as well as steel struts tying all the structural components together, are bolted through the concrete core and hence are anchored into place, transferring vertical loads from perimeter columns and ring beams to the core. The building was constructed by companies Midmac and

BESIX BESIX Group is a construction group based in Brussels, one of the world's leading international contractors according to the ENR ranking. Active since 1909, BESIX operates in Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, Africa, North America and Asia. Its a ...

subsidiary Six Construct and was completed in November 2007 at a final cost of .

References

External links

*
Hadi Simaan website

*
The Aspire Tower: a case study on Constructalia

* {{Supertall Hotel buildings completed in 2007 Towers completed in 2007 Skyscrapers in Doha Hyperboloid structures Skyscraper hotels

Construction and use

See also

References

External links