Wiel Arets unveils twin, 558-foot mixed-use towers in Bahrain’s capital

Global firm Wiel Arets Architects revealed its plans for a 558-foot tower in Manama, Bahrain. According to ArchDaily, the tower will be called Bahrain Bay Tower, and will consist of two residential towers connected “by a plinth of retail, office, parking, and public park space.”

Housing options in the residential sections range from one- to three-bedroom units. Throughout the two towers, glazed and operable windows allow access to light and air in each living space.

"Due to the extensive amounts of glazing on the tower’s façade, a panel-like system of sliding aluminum louvers serves as an additional layer of privacy and shading—in tandem with the façade’s treated glass, and the covered exterior terraces,” the firm explains in a release. “Together, these elements protect the tower’s interior from passive solar gain, while the louvers lend to the tower, an ever changing and thus chameleon-like appearance, due to the reflections they catch from direct sunlight."

The ground floor is designed to be publicly accessible, composed mostly of retail and public lobby space.

About the ground level design, the firm says: "Due to a division of these ground floor spaces, along the site’s southern edge, a breezeway was created that allows the public to traverse the tower’s entire site—without entering its interior—which serves to infuse the tower’s immediate context with pedestrian life. In this way, the ground level frontages of the tower’s retail spaces are maximized."

Design-focused wine displays are becoming increasingly popular in amazing residential and commercial properties throughout the world. Top design/build professionals are using stylish wine racks and other premium materials to create wine cellars that are too beautiful to hide in out-of-the-way places like dusty basements. This course explains why wine cellars have become so popular and the key aspects of designing an appealing modern wine cellar, broken into six planning steps that should be considered during pre- or early-construction phases.

Multifamily Housing | May 10, 2022

Multifamily rents up 14.3% in 2022

The average U.S. asking rent for multifamily housing increased $15 in April to an all-time high of $1,659, according to Yardi Matrix.

Rooftop paving system in a multifamily housing community.

Choosing the right paver system for rooftop amenity spaces

This AIA course by Hoffmann Architects offers best practices for choosing the right paver system for rooftop amenity spaces in multifamily buildings.

Building Team | May 6, 2022

Atlanta’s largest adaptive reuse project features cross laminated timber

Global real estate investment and management firm Jamestown recently started construction on more than 700,000 sf of new live, work, and shop space at Ponce City Market.

Rendering of Columbus Apartments, designed by Rhode Partners

Multifamily Housing | May 5, 2022

An Austin firm touts design and communal spaces in its student housing projects

Rhode Partners has multiple towers in various development stages.

For glass openings, how big is too big?

Advances in glazing materials and glass building systems offer a seemingly unlimited horizon for not only glass performance, but also for the size and extent of these light, transparent forms. Both for enclosures and for indoor environments, novel products and assemblies allow for more glass and less opaque structure—often in places that previously limited their use.

Multifamily Housing | May 3, 2022

Call for Kitchen+Bath projects and products – for next issue of "MULTIFAMILY Design+Construction" (no charge to participate!)

Multifamily AEC firms and developers and product manufacturers can submit Kitchen+Bath projects and products – for the next issue of "MULTIFAMILY Design+Construction."