Asymptote's Yas Hotel Opens for Grand Prix

November 2009

Asymptote Architecture's Yas Hotel is the architectural centrepiece of the 36-billion dollar Yas Marina development. The focus of the Yas Marina is Abu Dhabi's new world-class Formula 1 raceway circuit, which hosted its first Grand Prix from 30 October to 1 November.

The racetrack is straddled by the 500-room hotel, which consists of two towers connected by a bridge over the raceway at level 1. The towers and bridge are loosely cloaked in a skin called the Grid-Shell, comprising a steel frame with diamond-shaped glass panels that modulate in scale and shape across the surface. It has a standard two-grid system with a nodal connector or circular disk at each intersection, concealed within ‘node housings’ designed by Billings Jackson.

Each node must adjust to accommodate the differences in surface articulation across the structure, so refining the appearance of these junctions was a complex and highly rewarding challenge for Billings Jackson Design.