SKAI eyes more towers after scooping design award

Dubai-based real estate and hospitality group SKAI plans to replicate its 60-storey Viceroy Dubai Jumeirah Village tower in other major global cities after beating off stiff competition to win a prestigious award.

The company clinched the ‘Tall Buildings’ prize at this year’s Architectural Review MIPIM Future Projects Awards for the unique design, pipping 25 other global projects including Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Tower, and London’s Mile High Tower, to the prize.

This is its second major design win after claiming the 2015 Leisure and Hospitality Project of the Year the Middle East Architect Awards.

“We are very proud to be honoured at this year’s Architectural Review MIPIM Future Projects Awards for the design of the Viceroy Dubai Jumeirah Village,” said Nabil Akiki, CEO of SKAI Development LLC.

“When SKAI conceptualised the design of the Viceroy Dubai Jumeirah Village, it was important to be able to offer guests and residents the opportunity to experience all of the attractions of living in a tower as well as outdoor living – something we feel we have been able to achieve through this unique design.

SKAI has patented the unique design and registered it as a trade mark in 186 countries and plans to develop similar structures in other major gateway cities.

“Following on from the success of this design, SKAI now plans to replicate similar structures in other major cities across the world, the details of which we will be announcing in the not too distant future,” said Kabir Mulchandani, Group CEO of SKAI.

Construction on the AED 1.37bn ($370mn) tower, which comprises 254 serviced apartments with their own private sky gardens and 247 hotel guest rooms, is on track to complete in late 2017.

China State Construction Engineering Corporation (Middle East), the main contractor and a key investor, has now completed ten levels of the core building work with MEP, partition and blockwork currently underway.

The Viceroy Dubai Jumeirah Village will feature breathable architecture allowing sunlight to shine through the core of the tower and a vertical microclimate design with over half a million sq. ft. of flora, naturally helping maintain the temperature.

Lush green balcony-gardens and 271 sky-high swimming pools add to the sense of nature while floating bathtubs, floor to ceiling windows and panoramic views across the city provide the ideal cosmopolitan backdrop.

The Architectural Review MIPIM Future Projects Awards, which span 12 categories, are a celebration of architectural excellence in un-built or forthcoming projects at MIPIM, the international property market.

All entries were assessed by an international jury chaired by Paul Finch, Editorial Director, The Architectural Review & The Architect’s Journal.