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The Dynamic Tower is being promoted as the world's first fully rotating building, but how feasible is the project from a services perspective? MEP Middle East investigates.

Building in Dubai can be similar to taking part in a conversation where everyone is talking at once. In order to make yourself heard you need to either shout the loudest or provide an interesting viewpoint.

One newly proposed project that is currently attracting interest has pulled out all the stops to appear individual, but questions are already being asked as to its feasibility.

Dynamic Tower was announced in late June in a great fanfare by developer Rotating Tower Dubai Development of Dynamic Group. The primary focus of the attention was on the news that each floor of the 80-storey building would be able to rotate by 360° independently.

Mooted by the developer as "the first building in motion", this feature will, it reported, allow residents to move their apartments to face the direction they desire, while creating a continually changing building shape, as illustrated above.

Dynamic Tower was conceptualised by architect David Fisher, a man with no previous experience in skyscraper design. One area of experience he does plan on bringing to the proposed building however is that of prefabrication.

Having previously been involved with the design and use of prefabricated bathroom pods, Fisher reasons that the use of prefrabricated units will be key to the delivery of this project.

The architect's aim is for the majority of the building to be constructed from prefabricated sections that are custom-made in a factory then delivered to site for assembly around a concrete core that will be poured in situ.

Fisher estimates that by using this method only 80 technicians will be needed on the construction site to complete the build process instead of the 2,000 that would be required for a similar sized project built using traditional methods.

A further 600 workers would be employed in the prefabrication facility he adds. The main MEP systems will also be installed in the factory as part of the prefabricated units reports Fisher.

The first 20 levels of the proposed building are designed as offices; with a six-star hotel planned for the next 15 levels; 35 floors of luxury apartments and ten floors of villas are due to top the 420m-tall building.

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