Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park

The first LEED Platinum Comercial High-Rise sits among the giants of #NYC

The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park in midtown New York, designed by Cook + Fox Architects, is the first commercial high-rise to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

The 55-story, 2.2 million square foot project is a new addition to the towering blocks around Bryant Park in midtown and its dense context already challenges the role of the architecture. Cook+Fox establish a highly transparent corner entry, blending the public street with the private office building.

The form of the building deviates from its footprint, increasing the level of surface area exposed to day light and giving oriented views onto Bryant Park. Sustainable measures keep the building well insulated and protected from excess heat gain.

The design and high performance of this building is intended to set a new standard for commercial construction and for the office-work environment. By focusing on ways to emphasize daylight, fresh air and a connection to the outdoors, the architects redefine the parameters of the skyscraper as more than a glass box.

Burj Al Arab – One Of The Best Civil Engineering Works

The Burj Al Arab is one of the world’s most luxurious hotels and is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Burj Al Arab is managed by the Jumeirah Group and built by Said Khalil. Burj Al Arab’s stands at a height of 333m. The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island 280 metres (919 ft) out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge.

The construction of Burj Al Arab began in 1994. It was built to resemble the sail of a dhow, a type of Arabian vessel. Two “wings” spread in a V to form a vast “mast”, while the space between them is enclosed in a massive atrium. Architect Tom Wright said “The client wanted a building that would become an iconic or symbolic statement for Dubai; this is very similar to Sydney with its Opera House, or Paris with the Eiffel Tower. It needed to be a building that would become synonymous with the name of the country.” The architect and engineering consultant for the project was Atkins, the UK’s largest multidisciplinary consultancy. The hotel was built by South African construction contractor Murray & Roberts. The hotel cost $650 million to build.

The foundation used in this hotel is Pile Foundation and a total of 230 – 40 meter long concrete piles were drived into the sand. The foundation is held in place not by bedrock, but by the friction of the sand and silt along the length of the piles. Engineers created a surface layer of large rocks, which is circled with a concrete honey-comb pattern, which serves to protect the foundation from erosion. It took three years to reclaim the land from the sea, but less than three years to construct the building itself. The building contains over 70,000 cubic meters of concrete and 9,000 tons of steel.

The tennis court at the top of the hotel