Bahrain World Trade Center - Greendesignetc.net

Bahrain World Trade Center

Receiving multiple awards in the area of sustainability (2006 LEAF Award, The Arab 

Construction World for Sustainable Design Award, a 2008 ‘Best Tall Building Award’, an honorable 

mention in the 2009 NOVA) 1 , the Bahrain World Trade Center (BWTC) serves as a revolutionary 

model for innovation in green design as the first skyscraper in the world to embed industrial wind 

turbines within its building’s structure. The BWTC is situated on the Manama waterfront (Bahrain’s 

capital city) bordering northern Qatar in eastern Saudi Arabia in the heart of the region’s financial 

hub (about an hour’s car journey from Dubai). The Kingdom of Bahrain is made up of an 

archipelago of 33 island- the largest being Bahrain island- with an entire country only spanning an 

area of 700 square kilometers and a population just under 700,000. Bahrain- one of 33 islands- has 

long been regarded as the financial and banking hub of the Middle East. 

2 

1 The LEAF award (formerly The Emirates Glass LEAF Award) serves as an international architectural prize that 

recognizes architectural design in both private and public sectors of any building in the world. Operated by a Forum 

known as the Leading European Architects founded in 2001, this private association like the Arab Construction World 

for Sustainable Design Award is operated by private entities without governmental regulation and oversight. The NOVA 

Award is an annual award governed by the Construction Innovation Forum (CIF) since 1989, to acknowledge 

innovations proven to provide significant advances that have had significant effects on construction to improve quality 

and reduce cost. 

2 Bahrain World Trade Centre, Manama, Bahrain. Designbuild-network.com. http://www.designbuildnetwork.com/projects/bahrain/ 

Accessed 2009.

Thus, the investment in such an innovative and revolutionary skyscraper should be 

understood as a product of an emerging private demand in sustainable design and construction. The 

building however, should not be construed as being situated in an extremely ‘busy’ or ‘metropolitan’ 

environment with a range of neighboring structures and buildings. This will become important in 

understanding both the genius of its innovation and potential limitations of this type of design. 

Origins 

A member of the World Trade Center Association, the BWTC was fully backed and well 

financed with institutional investors but required a construction feat unaccomplished by any 

engineer or architect. The original impetus for the integration of wind turbines between the twin 

towers was strictly architectural, but soon developed as a sustainable solution. The wind climate in 

the Arabia Gulf prompted designers to utilize the concept of wind turbines in large-scale buildings. 

Previous research and attempts at integration turbines into failed to materialize due to high costs 

associated with such an adaptation of building design. Such endeavors would increase project costs 

up to 30%. However, designers from Atkins Architects and Norwin turbine specialists 3 were able to 

design an integrated turbine system that required only a 3% premium on project costs. This 

combination of a favorable natural wind system alongside creative design and lowered construction 

costs make the BWTC an important step toward innovated cost-effective designs. 4 

Technology 

The BWTC introduces an array of technologies to become the kingdom’s first intelligent 

building. “SMART” technology is integrated throughout both office towers. The SMART 

technology utilizes Intelligent Building Management Systems (IBMS) to monitor operational, facility 

3Included among the “20 Best Big Companies to Work For 2008”, Atkins Architects plans, designs and facilitates the 

delivery of complex capital programs for clients in both public and private sectors all across the world. They represent 

the largest engineering consultancy in the United Kingdom and the world’s 5 th largest design firm. Norwin Wind 

Turbine Technologies is a Denmark based engineering company focused on turbine development with operations all 

over the world and most currently in China and India. 

4 Bahrain World Trade Center Press Release. Bahrain WTC. Accessed 2009

and infrastructure management. These systems optimize energy use in heating, cooling, lighting, and 

security functions. The towers are also equipped with a structured cabling system (SCS) that 

integrates all forms of surveillance, data, and energy use with all operating systems. Security at the 

BWTC includes the latest CCTV surveillance and monitoring systems equipped to provide tenants 

with crisis management and disaster recovery emergency protocols. The building also includes “the 

automation of visitor management from parking to building admission including that for VIPs, a 

reservation management system for shared building facilities, an online helpdesk for maintenance 

requests and servicing and web-based billing enquiry systems.” 5 6 

5http://www.menareport.com/en/business,/198880 

6 Bahrain World Trade Center Press Release. Bahrain WTC. Accessed 2009

Structural Details 

The BWTC will primarily service business tenants in its office spaces in the two wind sail 

shaped towers. The three ground floor levels will accommodate a MODA shopping mall, food 

courts, retail dining, a business complex, and access to parking. 

Resource Efficiency 

The structure boasts a host of 

environmentally sensitive designs and energy 

saving features contributing to reducing carbon 

emissions. Each individual office in the towers 

has its own energy meter allowing each 

individual tenant and occupant to control their 

energy use and monitor usage and costs. 

Certain areas provide deep gravel roofs 

that provide kinetic insulation, while balconies 

to the sloping elevations with overhangs that 

provide shading. Dense concrete core and floor 

slabs will level loads and reduce peak demand 

with associated reductions in air and chilled 

water transport systems. 7 

To minimize energy lost to cooling and ventilation, buffer zones were incorporated between 

outside environments and air-conditioned spaces. The buildings and adjoining complex is cooled by 

a highly innovative air conditioning and cooling system using chilled water (see figure above). This 

setup allows for optimal efficiency and cost savings and provides an environmentally sound 

alternative to conventional cooling systems through the recycling of water (discussed later)/ 

Examples also include adjacent car parks to reduce solar air temperature and solar gain. 8 

7 Bahrain World Trade Center Press Release. Bahrain WTC. Accessed 2009 

8 Solar gain commonly referred to as solar heat gain or passive solar gain refers to the increases in temperature in either a 

space, structure, that results from solar radiation.

The building uses double-paned low-leakage windows with the ability to be opened. 9 This 

provides a mixed mode operation with the option to open or close windows according to seasonal 

and climate changes. 

Sewage Treatment 

According to Karolides, “in most cities, up to 10% of everything that is flushed down the 

toilet escapes the treatment plant and ends up in waterways,” and that often, “the first goal for more 

sustainable sewage systems is to reduce the amount of effluent that needs to be treated in the first 

place with water-efficient plumbing fixtures.” 10 In congruence with Karolides’ recommendations, the 

Bahrain WTC provide water and air transport systems (water pumping, piping, fan systems) that 

employ systems which require less initial start-up and maintenance energy. The water system’s piping 

structure also uses a dual drainage system that distinguishes between clean and wastewater for water 

treatment purposes. This also allows for water recycling within the Bahrain WTC towers themselves 

and diverting sewage, wastewater, and solids through an isolated sewage treatment system. The 

flushing systems are also completely electronic with flow restrictors that optimize water usage and 

provide more sanitation. Decorative pools in actuality serve as reflection pools at the building 

entrances to provide local evaporative cooling 11 . Surrounding all this are solar powered road lighting. 

9 Double-paned glass or windows consist of two facing glass panels in a frame separated by a small space (.5 -1 inch 

wide) often filled with nontoxic gases like argon to improve insulation. Depending on the window specifications, 

double-pane windows usually have R-values above 2 and can account for a 10-25% reduction in heating and cooling 

bills. 

10 Karolides, 15 

11 Evaporative cooling refers to a physical phenomenon where the evaporation of a liquid cools the surrounding area’s 

air and objects nearby.

Wind Turbines 

The most impressive innovation however, is the ground-breaking incorporation of wind 

turbines between the two towers as a source of renewable energy. The BWTC stands 787 feet high 

(50 stories) as a twin tower complex with three bridges each holding their own 39-meter diameter 

wind turbine. Each turbine has the capacity to generate 225kW of energy totally 674kW. These wind 

turbines operate roughly 50% of the time and provide 11% - 15% of the entire structures total 

power consumption (1.1-1.3 MWh/year). 12 The turbines are placed between the buildings, with the 

sail-like forms of the towers creating a concentrated flow of wind to power the turbines. As Bahrain 

experiences periodic droughts and dust storms, in the case of severe weather and wind conditions, 

the turbines are designed to automatically slow down and have the blades pivot to avoid any volatile 

and potentially dangerous wind forces beyond the engineering threshold of the turbines. 

The shape and curvature of the two towers acts as 

an airfoil and funnels sea breeze from the Arabian 

Gulf between them. Servicing as airfoils, the two 

buildings can divert wind to create greater wind 

speeds. These turbines convert kinetic win energy 

into mechanical energy in the form of electricity. 

Referring to the diagram, the towers’ elliptical 

forms and sail-like profiles act as airfoils, creating a 

negative pressure zone behind, thus accelerating 

the wind velocity between the towers into the path 

12 equivalent to providing lighting for approximately 300 home annually

of the turbines. Because wind speeds vary with height, the engineers had to develop a plan to 

normalize turbine speeds to avoid collapse and structural strain on the two towers. The designers 

came up with a tapered shape that can adequately adjust for these varying wind speeds. Even with 

higher wind speeds at higher altitudes, the turbines still have nearly constant vertical velocity 

profiles. The exact curvature and airfoil created also allows for any wind coming within a 45 degree 

angle to either side of the central axis (area between the two towers) will create a wind stream 

perpendicular to the propellers, significantly increasing the turbines ability to harness wind streams. 

For the BWTC, horizontal axis wind turbines are used where rotors must be placed facing 

into the wind, making the positioning of the turbines between the two towers of utmost importance. 

A horizontal axis wind turbine does have its advantages and disadvantages. Mentioned earlier, the 

angle of the blades can be adjusted to accommodate and optimize for the most efficient use of wind 

conditions. These blades can also be “pitched” in the event of strong winds to minimize stress. On 

the other hand, wind turbines require constant smooth wind flows. With the BWTC’s three 

elevations of turbines, performance of the lower turbines may be inconsistent as wind speed and 

direction tends to be more variable closer to the ground. From a cost standpoint, turbine production 

has not yet kept up with demand and prices have skyrocketed over 60% in the past three years with 

industrial orders fully booked up almost a year in advance with no signs of slowing in demand. 

The positioning of the BWTC has also been a topic of argument regarding environmental 

sensitivity. Though coastal locations are usually windy 13 and good sites for turbine installations, wind 

farms in these locations often jeopardize environmental aesthetics and certain natural ecologies 

(birds). 14 

13 A primary source of wind convection comes from the differential heating and cooling of land and sea over the course 

of 24 hours. Winds at sea level carry more energy that winds of the same speed in mountainous regions because of 

denser air at sea level. 

14 Bahrain World Trade Centre, Manama, Bahrain. Designbuild-network.com. http://www.designbuildnetwork.com/projects/bahrain/ 

Accessed 2009.

Conclusions 

There is no doubt that the Bahrain World Trade Center tackles many key criterions of 

resource efficiency and green design. But despite the many successes, the BWTC still has many 

shortcomings in terms of sustainability. One must remember that the original drive for the BWTC’s 

sustainable design came from a somewhat aesthetic and architectural incentive, using its design as 

simply a symbol of sustainable development and design solutions. In no way should one downplay 

the brilliance of the building’s design, engineering, or sustainable approach, but simply keep in mind 

the heavy architectural emphasis of its origins. 

Sustainable development and “true” green building as Karolides describes, “is a holistic 

approach to programming, planning, designing, and constructing (or renovating) buildings and sites. 

It involves analyzing such interconnected issues as site and climate considerations, building 

orientation and form, lighting and thermal comfort, systems and materials, and optimizing all these 

aspects in an integrated design.” 15 To categorize the entirety of the BWTC as a “true green” initiative 

and project simply isn’t true. The concept design of the BWTC was inspired by the traditional 

Arabian “Wind Towers”. The intent and purpose behind installing wind turbines- albeit green- was 

not “holistic” with sustainability at the core of the buildings concerns. Issues of transportation and 

accessibility often conflict with notions of sustainable urban design and infrastructure development 

relying solely on private automobiles. Construction also used the most cost-effective (cheap) 

materials and processes regardless of environmental impact with no cradle-to-grave assessments. 

Most shockingly, according to a recent paper by Shaun Killa and Richard F. Smith (Design Director 

and Principal Architect for Atkins) on the technical proficiencies of the BWTC, they even cautioned 

that, “This building is not intended to be a low carbon emission solution by European and other 

world-wide standard,” and only, “reduce carbon emissions when compared to other buildings in 

the Middle East.” 16 Even with the array of sustainable features, the lack of independent certification 

(LEED or otherwise) and standardization (in which one could grade its performance) severely 

jeopardizes the BWTC’s label as a sustainable project applicable to other scenarios. 

Ultimately, while the building’s limitations does raise certain questions and environmental 

concerns, one should appreciate and understand this revolutionary design as a pioneering step 

toward sustainability and green design through the potentials of modern engineering and 

architecture. 

15 Karolides, 4 

16 CTBUH 8th World Congress 2008

Works Cited 

Karolides, Alexis. Green Building: Project Planning & Cost Estimating .Kinston, MA: construction 

Publishers & Consultants, 2002. 

Killa, Shaun and Richard F Smith. Harnessing Energy in Tall Buildings: Bahrain World Trade Center and 

Beyond. United Arab Emirates, Dubai. 2008 

Bahrain World Trade Centre, Manama, Bahrain. Designbuild-network.com. http://www.designbuildnetwork.com/projects/bahrain/ 

Accessed 2009. 

Bahrain WTC Wind Turbines 2009 NOVA Award Nomination 15. Bahrain WTC: First Ever 

Integration of Large-Scale Commercial Wind Turbines into a Building. http://www.cif.org/noms/2009/15_- 

_Bahrain_WTC_Wind_Turbines.pdf. Accessed 2009 

BWTC Press Release. World’s First Integrated Wind Turbines Inaugurated in 

Bahrain.http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:jKoOl4uYlbYJ:www.cif.org/noms/2009/15_Bahrain_WTC_ 

Wind_Turbines.pdf+bahrain+WTC+pdf&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a Accessed 2009 

Bahrain World Trade Center Press Release. Bahrain WTC. Accessed 2009 

Bahrain World Trade Center announces plans for kingdom’s first intelligent buildings. MENA 

Report. http://www.menareport.com/en/business,/198880. Accessed 2009 

The Bahrain World Trade Center Official Website. 2009.http://www.bahrainwtc.com

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