Yas Marina Hotel

Located directly on the new Formula 1 circuit in Abu Dhabi, the Yas Marina Hotel offers racing drivers an impressive sight. The “Grid Shell”, a free-form surface made of steel and glass that spans the hotel and parts of the race track, has a unique appearance. The design, a vision ... of the New York office Asymptote Architects, was inspired by concepts such as speed, movement, elegance and spectacle. Waagner-Biro has developed this inspiration into a steel and glass construction that radiates lightness and elegance. The free-form surface covers the multi-storey hotel like a reptile skin. It rests on just a few V-shaped supports, although it consists of 2,800 tons of steel and 5,100 panes of glass. To create this filigree appearance, each of the 10,700 individual rods had to be as thin as possible – a task that only a few suppliers in the world can fulfill. As if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, the project was also under extreme time pressure. It only took 18 months from the architect’s first sketch to the completion of the project. 18 months in which all technical solutions were developed and implemented by Waagner-Biro.