8 of Qatar’s Most Bizarre Upcoming Buildings

Thought Qatar already had impressive architecture? Wait till you see these!

Qatar has some really unique, innovative architecture. The country is constantly looking for that “wow” factor and it certainly doesn’t disappoint.

Out of the already existing buildings, there are some that have distinct designs. The most notable ones are the Aspire Tower, the Doha Tower and the Zig Zag Towers. 

Aspire Tower
Standing at 300 metres, Aspire tower is the tallest building in the whole country. The tower was originally built to house the Symbolic Flame of the 2006 Asian Games. The tower features a five-star hotel, a sports museum, a health club, a swimming pool, an observation deck and a revolving restaurant.

Photo: Nishant Kaura/Flickr

Doha Tower
Overlooking the water, the Doha Tower is comprised of offices, a restaurant with panoramic views and a penthouse residence. The tower is covered with a stainless steel screen that symbolises the traditional Arabic architecture of the Mashrabiya, which refers to the artistic screen that one uses for shading.

Photo: hbs.com.qa

Zig Zag Towers
Also known as the West Bay Lagoon Plaza Twin Towers, these towers are located on the seaside between Lusail and The Pearl. They feature 34 floors overlooking the Arabian Gulf from one side and the city landscape on the other. Lagoona Mall is located at the bottom and connects the two towers.

Photo: Goodwins Olang/Prezi

However, the country is about to up the stakes in the next few years. Here are some new and upcoming quirky-looking buildings you’ll be seeing around the country.

You might also be interested in:

• The New Building of Northwestern University in Qatar is remarkable

• Doha Festival City opening postponed to March

• Doha Metro tracks expected to be completed this year

1. Marina Twin Towers

Lusail City is currently under construction, with the end goal of housing 200,000 residents spread across four man-made islands and 19 multi-purpose districts.

One of the recently completed projects is the 32-story office buildings the Marina Twin Towers. The design is made up of colourful cubes stacked unevenly, almost like Legos. The colours are meant to signify the multi-cultural society Qatar has.

2. Mansour Gate

Located in Lusail’s Energy City, the Mansour Gate will occupy 35,000 square meters. It will have retail buildings, a boutique hotel and a compound of four commercial offices. The $295 million development is supposed to house international oil and gas firms.

3. Cubes Tower

Located northeast of Lusail’s Fox Hills, this is a 22-floor waterfront building. It will be a luxurious residential building with seven apartments on each floor and penthouses on the top two floors.

SEE ALSO: GCC countries to implement VAT in 2018

4. Katara Towers

This is a luxury hotel that will feature apartments, entertainment, restaurants and other facilities. It has a distinctive cross-swords design and it’s located in Marina City. A completion date was set for 2016 at first, but it was postponed to 2020.

5. Silver Pearl Hotel

Designed by New York-based firm M Castedo Architects, the $1.6 billion Silver Pearl Hotel is a 1,000-room luxury hotel being built for the upcoming Qatar 2022 World Cup. It is made up of 30-story semi-circular towers which will be connected by a transparent atrium with views of the sea.

SEE ALSO: Qatar is spending $500m a week on World Cup preparations

To reach the hotel that’s 1.5km off the coastline, there will be a four-lane elevated causeway above the water. The design symbolises Qatar‘s pearl-diving history.

6. The Alpha Project

Designed by Barcelona architects Xavier Vilalta Studio, this project is a completely self-reliant, sustainable development. The design elements will provide stable climate conditions and will harness energy from the wind, water and sun as its primary sources of energy. The building design is inspired by the Arabic pattern of the Girih tiles.

7. National Museum of Qatar

The museum has an interlocking disc design based on the desert rose. It will feature a 220-seat auditorium, two retail outlets, two restaurants, a café, a food forum, a research centre, laboratories and a park with indigenous plants.

8. Al Mutahidah Towers

The Al Mutahidah Towers are twin 25-story residential towers featuring 480 apartments, two parking levels and amenities covering 160,500 square metres. It will be located on the beachfront of Viva Bahriya at the Pearl Qatar and it’s scheduled to be finished in 2019.