The Bahrain World Trade Center is a , 50-floor, twin tower complex located in

Manama Manama ( ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and List of cities in Bahrain, largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 297,502 as of 2012. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is ...

, Bahrain. Designed by the multi-national architectural firm

Atkins Atkins may refer to: People * Atkins (surname) Places in the United States * Atkins, Arkansas, a city * Atkins, Iowa, a city * Atkins, an unincorporated community in Bossier Parish, Louisiana * Atkins, Nebraska, an unincorporated community * Atk ...

, construction on the towers was completed in 2008. It is the first

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

in the world to integrate

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

s into its design. The wind turbines were developed, built and installed by the Danish company Norwin A/S. The structure is constructed close to the King Faisal Highway, near popular landmarks such as the towers of

Bahrain Financial Harbour Bahrain Financial Harbour (, commonly abbreviated as BFH) is a waterfront commercial development project located on the northern shore of Manama, the capital city of Bahrain. Costing $1.5 billion and covering an area of 380,000 square metres, the ...

(BFH), NBB and Abraj Al Lulu. It currently ranks as the second-tallest building in Bahrain, after the twin towers of the Bahrain Financial Harbour. The project has received several awards for

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

, including: # The 2006 LEAF Award for ''Best Use of Technology within a Large Scheme''. # The Arab Construction World for Sustainable Design Award.

Structural details

The two towers are linked via three skybridges, each holding a 225 kW

, totalling to 675 kW of wind power capacity. Each of these turbines measure in diameter, and is aligned north, which is the direction from which air from the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

blows in. The

sail A sail is a tensile structure, which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may b ...

-shaped buildings on either side are designed to

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...

wind through the gap to provide accelerated wind passing through the turbines. This was confirmed by

wind tunnel A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...

tests, which showed that the buildings create an S-shaped flow, ensuring that any wind coming within a 45° angle to either side of the central axis will create a wind stream that remains perpendicular to the turbines. This significantly increases their potential to generate electricity. The wind turbines are expected to provide 11% to 15% of the towers' total power consumption, or approximately 1.1 to 1.3

GWh A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a non-SI unit of energy equal to 3.6 megajoules (MJ) in SI units, which is the energy delivered by one kilowatt of power for one hour. Kilowatt-hours are a commo ...

a year. This is equivalent to providing the lighting for about 300 homes, 258 hospitals, 17 industrial plants, and 33 car engines. The three turbines were turned on for the first time on 8 April 2008. They are expected to operate 50% of the time on an average day.

Popular fiction

The Bahrain WTC was featured prominently in the 2009 science fiction SyFy channel

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

movie '' Annihilation Earth''. In the movie, an incident involving a subatomic collider in the year 2020 creates cataclysmic effects on planet Earth. CGI is used in the movie to show the WTC collapsing as a result of an

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

, though the reason for the earthquake is not fully explained in the movie.

Gallery

File:Bahrain's World Trade Center - after the showers (311240304).jpg, Bahrain World Trade Center and

under construction in 2006 File:Bahrain World Trade Center from below.jpg, The three

s are at the centre of the two

skyscrapers A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

File:Bahrain World trade Center .jpg, Bahrain World Trade Center during the

blue hour The blue hour (from French ; ) is the period of twilight (in the morning or evening, around the nautical stage) when the Sun is at a significant depth below the horizon. During this time, the remaining sunlight takes on a mostly blue shade. Th ...

References

External links

{{Commons category, Bahrain World Trade Center
bahrainwtc.com/

Worldwatch, ''Bahrain Propels Wind Energy to Urban Future''

BBC, ''Skyscraper powered by wind''

''The World Trade Center at Baharain has Giant Wind Turbines!''

''Faithful+Gould Middle East & India''
Office buildings completed in 2008 Buildings and structures in Manama Skyscrapers in Bahrain Sustainable buildings in Bahrain

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

Twin towers Skyscraper office buildings

Structural details

Popular fiction

Gallery

See also

References

External links