In Pictures: Dubai’s One Za’abeel aims for Guinness record as ‘longest cantilevered building’

Putting the pieces together for The Link was happening in real-time… over a six-lane highway. “Yes, it would have been easier to put the modules together if it was done in an isolated spot away from the site,” said Raad Jarrah, Chief Development Officer at Ithra Dubai. “At 230 metres long, The Link qualifies to be another tower, but only difference is it’s placed horizontally.”

The Link is made up of eight steel modules, with seven of them lifted into place in September. Now, the eighth and final piece takes its spot alongside. Soon, the gantries and all other external arms keeping the structure will be removed, and work will now focus on the completion of the two towers.

Excavation began seven levels below the existing infrastructure of the Happiness Bridge. All the planning and coordination was done with Dubai Municipality and Road and Transport Authority. And the complexity was there right through the construction phase. “You cannot imagine the degree of detail that went into the “cradling” to maintain the sides, the top part and the underside,” the official added. “We had gantries, cradles that popped in and out of the structure to maintain, clean and service the structure.”

The Link provides a 360° view of the city and will be padded up with future “experiences” across its 230 metres. All of which from spots 100 metres high. Visitors with an affinity for heights could also check out the Dubai Frame (150 metres high) and from the Burj Khalifa (the observation deck is at the 555 metre point).

There will be multiple restaurants and bars, an observation deck, gym, spa, pool, banquet hall, and a roof top terrace on offer at The Link. The One Za’abeel towers straddle Al Mustaqbal Bridge leading to Downtown Dubai, while pedestrian bridges connect the development to Dubai World Trade Centre

Issam Galadari, Director and CEO of Ithra Dubai and CDO Raad Jarrah. With The Link in place, attention shifts to building the rest of the 55-storey residential and 67-storey mixed-used towers. Their topping outs will be done in the first-half of 2021. The main contractor is ALEC Engineering while Nikken Sekkei is the architecture and design firm.

The hotel will be operated by the One&Only brand, part of Kerzner International. It is being branded as a “vertical urban resort”.

The residential units will be only for rental. “As a Dubai Government owned entity, anything we develop is for leasehold,” said Jarrah. “It’s the same for One Za’abeel and all others.”

The twin-tower project will be delivered “sequentially” from late 2021.

Dubai’s One Za’abeel aims for Guinness record as ‘longest cantilevered building.

Zabeel One, with a 9,000-tonne horizontal steel structure, called The Link, will add to the numerous architectural novelties and distinctive silhouettes of the Dubai skyline.