Nikken Sekkei, the leading architectural and urban design firm from Japan is all set to display their local and international projects at this year’s Cityscape Global event in Dubai. Nikkei Sekkei have been assembling an impressive portfolio that boasts the ‘Forte Towers’, a pair of300m high towers adjacent to the Dubai World Trade Centre. This particular project will feature a residential tower with apartments, a five star hotel tower and a commercial tower offering office spaces.
The Forte Towers is an imposing structure even in the Dubai skyline with one towering comprising of 70 storeys on one wing and 50 storeys on the other, and is second only to the Burj Khalifa as Dubai’s highest residential tower.
Each tower will have one, two and three-bedroom units, ranging from 650 to 1,800 square feet in size and will be situated in the Downtown Opera District. Other projects of interest include Tadawul HQ (Saudi Stock Exchange) in Riyadh.
The construction of this super structure is complete, with preparation ongoing for interior fitout, said the Japanese firm. On its global projects, Nikken Sekkei said it is gearing up for one of India’s most successful real estate launches, Godrej Origins’ The Residences at The Trees, in Mumbai. Aimed at upper middle-class locals and Non-Resident Indians (NRI), work began on the development in 2015, with completion slated for 2019.
The 2.6-million strong Indian expatriate community in the UAE pumped $1.69 billion into the Indian real estate market in the first nine months of 2016, according to a report from property consultancy Square Yards, said a top official.
The one and three-bedroom apartments in the residential towers come with luxury grade specifications and fittings, with a strong emphasis on sustainable living, promoting an efficient and luxurious lifestyle. Fadi Jabri, the executive officer, principal responsible for Mena, CIS and Indian region, said: "Sustainable thinking forms the core of our development proposition. It is reflected in the design and engineering approach from the masterplan right down to each individual apartment.
“This development vision prides itself on saving over 90 per cent of the mature tree cover. It also has IGBG Platinum ratings – the highest for sustainability, for all buildings and adaptive reuse of heritage structures that offer unique place-making and cultural experiences.” Godrej Origins and a further Class A commercial development Godrej Two are the result of a successful collaboration between Nikken Sekkei and GPL Design Studio.
"When I visited the site five years ago, it was an abandoned industrial zone. It’s amazing what the Godrej team has done to convert this grey site into a stylish, vibrant, cool environment with a strong sense of place," noted Jabri. “We truly enjoyed working with the Godrej Design team, GPL studio, on Godrej Origins and Godrej Two. It was particularly nice to see the appreciation of zen aesthetics on the residential side,” he added.
Nikken remains one of the world’s top architectural and engineering design firms and will also display another one it’s projects known as “Botanica’. Botanica is a 30 hectar TOD project in Moscow, Russia. It has been transformed from a brown field site into a serene residential locale. Botanica according to the company is an apt example of the vision and abilities of Nikken. . "It also stands as a testament to our successful collaboration with Pioneer, the Moscow City Government, and MKZD railways company," he noted. “Our experience in building Transit Oriented Developments has helped in maximizing the value of the project as the first TOD and large scale residential development in Moscow.”
Botanica is a four part project iclusive of Life I, Life II, Yauza Walk, and Ye’s Botanica, providing quantity as well as quality to Moscow’s residential and real estate market. The project is strategically located near the newly converted passenger railway station, allows different levels of integration and optimization of the area, while the nearby famous Botanic Garden offers a great opportunity for sustainable and responsible living.
Life Botanic Garden I & II are part of a life brand being popularized by Pioneer, who hope to soon commence with phase II of the project. . “Our partnership with Pioneer promoted the use of Japanese residential construction technologies, which embody the idea of convenience and comfort for residences to maximum effect,” he concluded.