ADNOC

ADNOC made a bold statement with the design of its Abu Dhabi headquarters, which features glass and Bethel White granite as its façade materials. The honeycomb-shaped rain screen panels are both functional and aesthetic, while the building’s cutting-edge design led to unique construction challenges that required innovative solutions.

The ADNOC headquarters building was designed to be highly asymmetrical, which could cause the building to twist and lean forward over time. Furthermore, the original design was based on a steel structure to provide the extra stiffness necessary to protect against this natural motion - a structure that would be extremely difficult to fabricate and erect. Finally, the process of lifting the finished steel roof structure to a height of 342 metres would involve complex, daring and precise high-altitude engineering.

BESIX engineers chose to implement a steel structure of circular tubes rather than square ones, as they are easier to fabricate, lighter and require less steel. Much of the stiffness necessary to keep the building from twisting and leaning was also achieved with high-strength concrete. These changes not only optimized the geometry of the building; they also saved 20% of the total cost of construction and simplified the construction schedule. Last but not least, the BESIX team successfully tackled the challenge of placing the steel roof structure upon the summit of the edifice without a single hitch.