Gurit clocks on in Saudi for world’s tallest hotel
Gurit clocks on in Saudi for world’s tallest hotel
The recently inaugurated clock tower, the central tower of the Abraj-Al Arab development in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, features fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials and structural engineering composites specialist Gurit.
At 607m tall the building is the second tallest in the world. The top 200m of the tower is clad with over 40,000m² of FRP composite panels, including the largest clocks in the world – 43m in diameter, with 23m long minute hands.
The cladding of the tower top includes intricate calligraphy and ornamental patterning, finished in glass and ceramic tiles. Illumination of the clock hands, clock faces and media wall, called for over two million LEDs to be integrated into the cladding panels.
Gurit worked closely with the tower top designers, SL-Rasch (Stuttgart, Germany), to carry out the structural engineering of the composite tower top cladding, clock hands, and the 23m diameter crescent, a self-supportive FRP composite structure which is located at the top of the building.
Gurit supplied a range of composite materials to Premier Composites Technologies (Dubai, UAE), the company that carried out fabrication and installation of the cladding, clock face, clock hands and crescent. This included a new fire retardant wet laminating system from Gurit, Ampreg 21FR, which was developed for lamination of the façade.
The clock hands presented a particular challenge due to their long, slender geometry and the potential for high wind loading. The clock hands were therefore manufactured using Gurit’s WE91-2 carbon fibre prepreg material and Corecell T Foam structural core, originally developed for use in modern large wind turbine blades.
Dr Mark Hobbs, senior engineer, engineered structures at Gurit, said: “This has been a fascinating project to work on. It has presented numerous challenges, from the sheer scale and complexity of the project, to the integration of finishes and lighting into the cladding panels.”
Source : www.prw.com
