SOCAR Tower is a skyscraper in
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
, Azerbaijan. It is the 4th
tallest building in Baku and in Azerbaijan. The skyscraper serves as the headquarters of
SOCAR
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic ( az, Azərbaycan Respublikası Dövlət Neft Şirkəti), largely known as SOCAR is fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and na ...
(State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic). Construction started in 2010
and was completed in 2016, where it became the tallest building in Baku until it was surpassed by the Port Baku Towers. SOCAR Tower is located on Heydar Aliyev Avenue, a long highway from the main airport to downtown Baku, which is visible on the way to the city center. It is one of Baku's major landmarks, along with the
Flame Towers
Flame Towers ( az, Alov qüllələri) is a group of three skyscrapers in Baku, Azerbaijan. The height of the tallest tower is . The three flame-shaped towers are intended to symbolize the elements of fire, and are a reference to Azerbaijan's nickna ...
.
Design
The building, which was designed by Heerim Architects from
South Korea, is an example of
structural expressionism.
It is composed of two towers which curve around each other as they rise, according to skyscraper.com, "the seemingly shorter tower almost looks like its resting its head on the chest of the taller tower. The taller towers peak slightly bending over it in a confident, reassuring and comforting manner".
The tower is tall and have 42 floors, covering an area of and providing of usage area. The headquarter mainly houses office space, but it also has conference and sports facilities, a guest house, retail spaces and food outlets.
The building's design is based on a composite system of steel construction (made by Permasteelisa Group) with reinforced concrete walls. The building is designed to be resistant to wind speeds of and a magnitude nine earthquake by the
Richter scale.
The building, designed by South Korean Heerim Architects & Planners Co. Ltd, based on the concept of "wind and fire", was built by the Turkish company
Tekfen Construction and Installation.
Gallery
File:Stamps of Azerbaijan, 2012-1037.jpg, SOCAR Tower on an Azerbaijani stamp
File:Socar Tower 02.jpg, Construction on 12 January 2013; shot 1
File:Socar Tower.jpeg, Construction on 12 January 2013; shot 2
File:SOCAR tower.jpg, August 2013: Construction of 37th story of the core
File:SOCAR Tower.jpg, 23 February 2013: 19th floor of concrete core construction
See also
*
List of twisted buildings
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Socar Tower
Buildings and structures under construction in Azerbaijan
Buildings and structures in Baku
Skyscrapers in Azerbaijan
SOCAR
Twisted buildings and structures
Skyscraper office buildings