Ground breaks on billion dollar leisure towers at Dubai's Aykon City
by Kim Megson | 24 May 2016
Aykon City will have four towers, two of which will house luxury hotels / DAMAC
Construction has begun on Aykon City; a four-tower mega-project in Dubai which will bring new leisure space to the city’s skies.
Designed by Handel Architects for developer DAMAC, the towers will house hotels, offices and residences. They will be supported by a podium featuring leisure amenities for the public – including a beach club with swimming pools and green spaces, a children’s playground, an Aykon Spa, restaurants, high-end shops, cafes, a yoga lawn and a jogging track.
Located on Sheikh Zayed Road, Aykon City will cover 6.5m sq ft (600,000sq m) when completed. According to local reports, the project will cost some AED7.4bn (US$2bn, €1.8bn, £1.4bn).
The towers, while different in size, are sculpted to flow with one another. The architects have envisioned wrapping planes and layered forms to create a sense of movement. The architectural inspiration derives from Dubai's sand dunes and the quartz crystals that form them.
Two of the towers will be used by separate branded hotels – DAMAC Maison Hotel & Hotel Apartments and the five star Aykon Hotel & Serviced Residences. The latter will be topped with a sky lounge with panoramic views of the city.
The office tower will be the tallest of the four. It will feature an attraction called Aykon Dare, accessible from the 79th floor lounge and dining room. Here, guests will walk out onto a landing platform where they’ll be harnessed into a safety line and able to walk out onto the roofline of the upper level, nearly 1,000ft (305m) above ground.
Akyon City is the latest large-scale development to take place on Sheikh Zayed Road. It will join a new Hilton Worldwide luxury hotel and apartment complex and the forthcoming Museum of the Future, among others.
Handel Architects are currently working on a number of design projects around the world, including the Shangri-la at the Fort hotel in Manila, Philippines; a Proper Hotel in Austin, US and the transformation of Pier 57 in New York into a mixed-use leisure space.
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Construction has begun on Aykon City; a four-tower mega-project in Dubai which will bring new leisure space to the city’s skies. Designed by Handel Architects for developer DAMAC, the towers will house hotels, offices and residences. They will be supported by a podium featuring leisure amenities for the public – including a beach club with swimming pools and green spaces, a children’s playground, an Aykon Spa, restaurants, high-end shops, cafes,
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