BAKU’S ICONIC FLAME SHAPED TOWERS WINS AWARD

When Fairmont Baku opens its doors in late spring 2013*, it will do so as part of an award-winning mixed use development.  Housed in the northernmost tower of the tri-flame complex, one of the most adventurous and striking mixed use developments ever constructed in a major global city, the Flame Towers has just been named as ‘The Best Hotel and Tourism Resort’ at the prestigious MIPIM event, the leading international real estate show for professionals held in Cannes, France.

Designed by the HOK International team, headed up by their London Vice President Barry Hughes with DiA Holdings as design and build contractor and Azinko MMC as Engineer, construction on the mixed use development is now complete and the interior fit out is well underway.

Known as the ‘region of eternal fires’, Azerbaijan’s long history of fire worship and on-going relationship with natural gas provided the inspiration for HOK’s iconic design. Located on a hill overlooking the city, with views extending across Caspian Sea, the design of the Flame Towers was originally sketched on a single sheet of paper. It centres on three towers, each sweeping dramatically upwards to form a striking silhouette on the city’s skyline, evoking the momentary flicker of a flame.

Says Adrian Ellis – General Manager, Fairmont Baku:  “I am pleased to hear that HOK’s audacious structural concept for the Flame Towers has been recognized.  It is evident even to me as a layman that the breath-taking design has really pushed the boundaries of contemporary architecture taking it onto a whole new level of daring and expertise.  This building is already a symbol for the re-emergence of Azerbaijan onto the global stage.”

Each of the three towers has a distinct purpose; providing residential, hotel, or office space. The residential tower sits to the south, accommodating some 130 residential apartments over 39 floors, and is the tallest of the three towers. Housing luxury apartments, it boasts stunning views across the surrounding area. The luxurious Fairmont Baku hotel, situated on the northern corner of the site, consists of 318 guest rooms, suites and apartments; whilst the office tower, set on the western side of the complex, provides 33,114 square metres of grade A flexible commercial office space. At the base of the towers, a number of smaller, discreet structures form the retail and leisure pavilions, mediating between the scale of the towers and their surroundings. Incorporating three levels of leisure facilities, including boutique shops, restaurants and a cinema, the pavilion provides all of the leisure and retail facilities for the development.

Barry Hughes, HOK’s mixed use design lead commented: “Our aim from the outset was to create a unique focal point on Baku’s skyline. The flame is such an intrinsic part of region’s identity, but translating this into the design was a real challenge. We were keen to ensure a sense of movement, the idea of momentary flicker, so it was important that the shape of the towers was realistic, especially the ‘flick’ at the top of each tower. It’s really exciting to see the Flame Towers coming to life and we couldn’t be more delighted with the award that it has received.

HOK undertook master planning, concept and schematic design for the site and towers.  A world leader in utilising BIM, HOK’s designs for Baku Flame Towers were designed & conceived using BIM, enabling the team to refine the unusual shape of the buildings. The use BIM was also critical in enabling the development to be built, giving the team unprecedented abilities to model the construction process before work began on site, a crucial advantage when constructing buildings of this scale in a seismic region such as Baku. The original concept model was conceived in Revit Architecture 2008 whilst the interiors and retail pavilion were documented in Revit 2010 / AutoCAD 2010.

* Exact opening date and opening rates will be announced soon.

Media Enquiries: For all HOK press enquiries, please contact Eve Chung at eve.chung@hok.com or contact Victoria Willis on 020 7260 2700 at hok@bluerubicon.com.

For Fairmont Baku and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, please contact Sue Lowry at sue@magellan-pr.com or Alexandra Pinhorn – Alexandra@magellan-pr.com – telephone:  +44 (0)1483 570 804.

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