Built Expressions Bangalore :: Flame Towers Of Baku, Azerbaijan

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Flame Towers of Baku, Azerbaijan Expressing the Triune Principle of "The Land of Fire"

Azerbaijan is an oil-rich country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia surrounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Turkey to the west, Georgia to the northwest Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south, commonly known as- The Land of Fire.

Baku, the capital city of the 'Land of Fire', characteristically blasted by strong winds, seismic activity, is located near one of the world's largest and most coveted oil reserves. Over the past five years, Baku's skyline in the recent past has changed from classical domes and ancient minarets to futuristic skyscrapers, stadiums and sculptural buildings of the most innovative variety. Located 28 meters below sea level, it is the lowest lying and the largest national capital in the world.

Construction of three iconic towers located on a hill overlooking Baku Bay and the old city center, transforms the city's skyline and promotes its historic identity. Baku's history of fire worship provided the inspiration for the design, comprising of three flame-shaped towers, each with a different function, set in a triangular shape. They are visible from most vantage points in the city. Baku Flame Towers is a project by Azinko Development MMC. HOK was the architect, with DIA Holdings serving as design-build contractor and Hill International providing project management.

HOK interacts exclusively on the architecture of the tower with Built Expressions.

The Inspiration

The inspiration to design the structure in the shape of a flame was drawn from the Baku's religion of fire worshipping to give a touch to the Baku's skyline. The history of Baku reveals about fire worshiping from a very long period of time. In the Azerbhaijan region, there is a phenomenon which occurs by the emission of subterranean gases that ignites the fire in the atmosphere. This phenomenon was later adapted very signifaicantly and was worshiped as eternal flames of God. Islam is the current religion been followed in the region, Zoroastrianism as a long history in the region of Azerbaijan. The fire is the most crucial part of the Zoroastrianism community and they consider that led to the civilization of human beings.

Each of the three towers has a distinct programmatic purpose; residential, hotel, and office. The residential tower sits to the south, accommodating about 130 luxury residential apartments over 39 floors, and is the tallest of the three towers. The hotel is sited on the northern corner of the site and consists of 250 rooms and 61 serviced apartments over 33 floors, whilst the office tower is set on the western side of the complex, providing a net 33,114 square meters of grade 'A' flexible commercial office space. All towers make use of the far reaching views over the Caspian Sea and beyond.

Design Philosophy

The structure was designed to add ambience to the origin of the Azerbaijan region, as fire worshipping is an important phenomena in that region. The agenda of the design was it should draw the attention of the people from every angle of the Baku city. Designing the structure was a major challenge as it was programmed for various purposes like commercial, residential and office. Barry Hughes, architect, HOK, says, "So we had to come up with a design which can be appropriate for the various purposes of these three towers. And the shape of fire brought out the structure to be designed in that model. The original winning entry had a podium which was essentially a public plaza covered by an undulating canopy of structural glazing. As the design evolved it became apparent that there would need to be a more pronounced podium in order to house the retail program. The final solution, which stacks the shopping atrium on top of the hotel ballroom, helped to unlock a considerable amount of space on the ground plane."

Natural Hindrances

Baku is a place where the wind is very strong and pounding, raising a structure on a slope location is a major task, especially, the winds which disturbs the installations of the facades. But the hilly region was an opportunity to explore on various other aspects like the interior and various other levels. The idea of a series of pavilions linking the bases of the towers and a fluid movement of space between these smaller structures works in part because of the way the cascade down the hill. Anyone can still read this idea in the built form, although the glass between the masses is a little more opaque than we had intended.

Trinity Flare

Since three towers were raised in a triangular form, each had its own purpose like resident, hotel and office. "So we had to plan it out according to the speciality of each structure, the credit goes to HBA interior designer who performed an excellent job in designing the interiors for the hotel. A similar kind of process was followed for the residential tower and designed it according to the taste of the residents of the flat. Through his design strategy he gave some fantastic views of the city from the hotel. The original concept had a series of stacked atria on the inside face of all three towers," adds Hughes. Most of the spaces was utilised in designing the hotel, there was lack of usable space for the residence and office tower. Presently, the podium of the retail is going on, which is going to be the anchor of the structure. A special leisure segment was made in the retail area to serve as a development for the visitors. This segment comprises of boutiques, restaurants and cinema, it’s a complete package of entertainment to the people.

The Architect has depicted the faith of the Azerbaijan region people in the shape of the tower. The design is very innovative and also the epicenter of attraction of the Baku city. The deceptive appearance of the tower during the dusk is a real treat to the eyes of the Baku people. The aim of the Architect has been fulfilled by its structure in the form of flame, thereby creating a unique focal point on Baku's skyline. Thus the tower is not only a structure but also the faith of the Azerbaijan region and its people.

The Construction

Construction of the complex which began in 2007 was extremely challenging as Baku is situated in an active seismic zone. Enabling the trio towers to withstand earthquakes, each tower was reinforced by 36m long, 1.2m diameter concrete piles buried into underground hard silt strata. The foundations provide each tower the strength to withstand a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Doka's SKE 50 automatic climbing formwork and Peri's Multi-purpose prop System were extensively designed and used during construction. Concrete was the predominant material of construction for the Towers including use of lighter steel structure to get the tip of the flame.

The Illumination

The lighting design for the Baku Flame Towers is a dynamic LED system concealed within the curtain wall design, utilizing the building form and surface as a canvas to project moving images. There was no possible exterior location for this lighting effect, since any lights applied to the building skin would destroy the smooth glass skin shape of the building form. In addition, no impact to the interior occupants from this lighting effect would be acceptable to the Client. This set of parameters proved to be most challenging.

The design was developed as an interior element, to remove any possible impact on the building skin. The light element is concealed within a shape similar to the curtain wall mullions, and mounted within the profile of the curtain wall, so as to be concealed from the interior occupants view. The building form changes in an irregular pattern from floor to floor, which required each lighting plan configuration to be tailored to the dimensions of the window mullions on that floor. The variations in floor dimensions required 16 different unit fixture lengths. These fixtures are carefully fitted within the curtain wall so as to create a continuous, seamless light band around the perimeter.

To create the moving images within the band, a new LED product was developed by Francis Krahe & Associates, Inc. to allow variation in color within a 300mm segment. Through a series of on site mockup, this 300 mm length was judged to be small enough to create movement (similar to an rgb pixel within a video screen), but large enough to be financially viable. There are over 10,000, 300 mm units within the horizontal light bands over the three towers. This project is one of the first LED systems at this scale in the world, and all of this material was custom designed for this installation.

Facade Control

The facade lighting elements for each tower are controlled from a CPU located in the Facilities Management Office on level 1. Each LED segment (300mm unit) is addressable via the control software, which allows custom animation programming. Each tower can operate separately or in unison within a coordinated program. The CPU includes various standard interfaces to allow import of mpg or avi file formats. This control system allows for an unlimited number of possible animated graphic representations on the skin of the building.

PROJECT FACT SHEET