Back in 2006 Masdar City in Abu Dhabi was hailed as one of the world’s most ambitious carbon-neutral cities. With a master plan by architectural giants Foster + Partners that conceived of an entire city built on a podium above a buzzing network of driverless cars, its lofty, but also costly, ideals came to a grinding halt during the 2008 financial crisis. In recent years construction has restarted, but Masdar City 2.0 is a far more pragmatic proposition. »If something is economically unsustainable then it is unsustainable full stop,« explains Masdar’s design manager, Chris Wan.
An apposite champion for the new vision of Masdar City is one of its most recent completions, a new HQ building for Siemens designed by UK practice, Sheppard Robson. The 22,800-m2 structure is a simple, airtight box with shimmering, faceted facades that sets new pioneering standards in sustainability in unexpected ways. »Efficiency was the driving force behind our project. And the language of the building came out of this efficiency idea,« explains David Ardill, a partner at Sheppard Robson and project architect on the Siemens HQ. »Why put complication into form if it generates waste?« (Giovanna Dunmall)
An apposite champion for the new vision of Masdar City is one of its most recent completions, a new HQ building for Siemens designed by UK practice, Sheppard Robson. The 22,800-m2 structure is a simple, airtight box with shimmering, faceted facades that sets new pioneering standards in sustainability in unexpected ways. »Efficiency was the driving force behind our project. And the language of the building came out of this efficiency idea,« explains David Ardill, a partner at Sheppard Robson and project architect on the Siemens HQ. »Why put complication into form if it generates waste?« (Giovanna Dunmall)