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As a result, the project was delayed for over a year before construction started up again on June 15, 2008. Prior to construction commencement and the flooding incident, main contracts and subcontracts were awarded.
In 2005, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) won the contract to design the structure, due to its ability to create an unmatched product, according to the client.
“At Cayan, we always want to be different,” says Kasem.
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“We ran a design competition that included four or five consultants and eventually awarded the contract to SOM. The project is unique and distinguished.” Arabtec won the main construction contract in December 2006, but price escalations later occurred.
“Between 2007 and 2008 material prices went up, which is when we signed the subcontracts. Still to this day, we have very high priced supplies on site,” explains Kasem.
“We did a lot of negotiation with our subcontractors and main contractors to reduce costs and we have succeeded in doing so.” The main construction contract is now valued at $209.6 million.
Over a year on, and rapid progress is finally being made on the eye-catching Infinity Tower and Cayan is now confident that the project will be a success.
So, how exactly are the twists and turns in the building’s structure created?
In short, each floor, or slab plate, rotates 1.08 degrees around a fixed cylinder core. Once the tower is complete, the 73 floors will add up to a cumulative 90 degree angle.
“The thickness of the core wall is 1m and it tapers down as you get higher. Right now I think it’s at around 90cm and it’s a fixed structure,” says Kasem.
There are no pillars in the building; instead it is supported via a complex concrete column structure that works with the core to hold the building up.
“The plate is heavily reinforced to take care of the eccentricity of each column as you go up a level,” he adds.
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