Al Sa’ad Plaza Towers

Al Sa’ad Plaza Towers, a landmark north of Doha comprised of four high-rise buildings spanning 1.1 million square meters, anchors a central business district in Lusail City. The development, situated on the Al Sa’ad Plaza, houses the headquarters of the Qatar National Bank, Qatar Central Bank, and Qatar Investment Authority, alongside global organizations like Qatari Diar.

As part of a master plan aligned with the 2022 Football World Cup, two 70-story and two 50-story towers stand symmetrically around a central plaza, enhancing public spaces in Lusail City. Podium buildings at the base create human-scale streets with diverse facilities. The plaza integrates a metro station, serving as a focal point for World Cup activities. The towers’ elliptical footprints offer views of the city and waterfront. Clad in marine-grade aluminium, the tower facades respond to the sun with projecting profiles for shade while preserving views and daylight.

Front, initially a consultant for Foster and Partners, helped rationalize the towers’ twisting geometry while preserving the architect’s design intent. Recognizing the value of this assessment, Front was subsequently contracted by the façade subcontractor, Alutec, to develop the curtain wall system, create an LOD 500 BIM model, assist in global supply chain procurement, and generate fabrication and assembly documents of all façade elements. The project incorporated extensive use of Elefront and in-house parametric tools for automated production of innumerable shop drawings. A global effort across multiple time zones allowed the office to provide the client with almost 24 hr project coverage. Furthermore, the fabrication of the project’s 11,136 unique cold-bent glass curtain wall panels is the result of Front’s pioneering work in extreme cold bending and shape prediction with machine learning material simulation.

Front consulted on the project from schematic design through construction administration.