O-14 / Reiser + Umemoto

O-14 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates by Reiser + Umemoto

O-14, a 22-story tall commercial tower perched on a two-story podium, broke ground in February 2007, and comprises over 300,000 square feet of office space for the DubaiBusinessBay.  O-14 is located along the extension of Dubai Creek, occupying a prominent location on the waterfront esplanade.  With O-14, the office tower typology has been turned inside out – structure and skin have flipped to offer a new economy of tectonics and of space.

The concrete shell of O-14 provides an efficient structural exoskeleton that frees the core from the burden of lateral forces and creates highly efficient, column-free open spaces in the building’s interior. The exoskeleton of O-14 becomes the primary vertical and lateral structure for the building, allowing the column-free office slabs to span between it and the minimal core.  By moving the lateral bracing for the building to the perimeter, the core, which is traditionally enlarged to receive lateral loading in most curtain wall office towers, can be minimized for only vertical loading, utilities, and transportation.  Additionally, the typical curtain-wall tower configuration results in floor plates that must be thickened to carry lateral loads to the core, yet in O-14 these can be minimized to only respond to span and vibration.  Consequently, the future tenants can arrange the flexible floor space according to their individual needs.

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