星空传媒

Work is due to start this month on a striking new development in central Islamabad, Pakistan's capital city. When it is completed, the 280,000 m2 mixed use scheme will be able to boast the country's tallest building: a 30-storey, 350-bedroom hotel topped by a restaurant providing panoramic views across the city to the Himalayan mountains beyond.

The 拢170m project has been commissioned by Pak Gulf and is being brought to life by multidisciplinary consultancy Atkins, appointed in October 2005 to provide fast-track design services including architecture, building services and seismic engineering - the earthquake risk added to the scheme's complexity and placed strict limitations on the structural design.

The design team's aim was to create a functional, environmentally responsible scheme and the initial concept is to develop sufficient detail to establish the overall form and content of the development and the extent of provisions required to service it. According to Jason Davies, engineering design team leader, it was important early on to ensure each element of the development (28,000 m2 of retail space, 23,000 m2 of offices and more than 300 apartments) could be serviced independently to maximise flexibility.

The lack of resilience in Islamabad's infrastructure was an issue that had to be taken into account, as was the extreme climate. "We will be looking at alternative solutions such as rainwater harvesting for the non-potable water supplies and condensate recovery of the equipment cooling coils," says Davies. Also under consideration is the use of an underground aquifer for the primary water supply as well as desalination plant.

The schematic design of the project is now well under way and construction should be completed in three years - at which point ,Islamabad will have an iconic building that reflects one of the fastest growing regions in the world.