Site visit: Pentominium Tower

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Home to the world’s tallest tower, the world’s highest restaurant and the world’s largest shopping mall, it comes as no shock that the record-breaking city of Dubai is now on track with the world’s tallest residential building.

The real surprise is that we are not talking about the Princess Tower. At just 107 storeys and a height of 414m on completion, Princess, which made waves thanks to its tall order, will be no match for the soaring penthouse skyscraper of the Pentominium.

Superseded by only the Burj Khalifa, the Trident project will, once finished, stand at a massive 516m with 122 floors, 172 luxury penthouse apartments and a total built up area of 163,720m².

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The project is unique,” says main contractor ACC's project manager Ashraf Salman. On completion, it will be the third-tallest tower in the world. In truth, however, the Pentominium is more than just another tall tower.

Asymmetrical, and extremely slender for a building of its height, it is actually one of the most architecturally significant projects in the city currently under construction.

Designed by Aedas, it features six hanging gardens and several apartments down just one side of the structure at the high levels, and, most importantly, a 604m² penthouse on every ‘floor’.

FACT
The finished height of the Pentominium Tower will be 516m

While in construction terms the building has just 122 levels, technically it could be described as having 172 floors because it has apartments on each side of the building offset or separated by a flight of stairs, with lifts stopping at individual apartments.

“The reason it is called the Pentominium is because it is a residential complex with all penthouses, so rather than a condominium, it is a Pentominium,” says George Larkins, site operations manager from Burj Khalifa consultant Hyder.

The company was engaged by Trident to provide engineering and design expertise to the Pentominium, as well as construction supervision. “Unlike other structures, there will also be a large glass façade on the outside of the building or, rather, a curtain wall made of glass, stainless steel, aluminium and stone.”

As for the amenities, the building will be complete with swimming pools on levels 4 and 99, a sky lounge, a business centre, men and women’s health clubs, a cigar lounge, a banquet hall, a theatre, an observation deck and 26 high-speed elevators. Certainly everything you would expect from a luxury Dubai skyscraper.

Having commenced with construction in 2008, the Pentominium is still in its early stages. The enabling works were completed by Swissboring Overseas Piling Corporation, with one of the deepest excavations in the world, followed by the main contract award to Dubai-based contractor Arabian Construction Company (ACC) for $400million.