Yas Island Marina Hotel - Node Housing

Yas Island is a 2,500 hectare development in Abu Dhabi featuring attractions that include a world-class motor sports racetrack together with signature hotels, theme parks, golf courses and marinas to create a unique international tourist destination.

The racetrack is straddled by a hotel designed by Asymptote Architecture, which consists of two towers connected by a bridge at level 1, with the racetrack running below it. It is designed to be an integral part of the complex, accommodating visitors and F1 teams alike.

The towers and bridge are loosely cloaked in a skin called the ‘gridshell’, again designed by Asymptote with advanced modelling by Gehry Technologies. This skin comprises a steel frame and approximately 4500 diamond shaped glass panels that modulate in scale and shape across the surface.

The shell has a standard two-grid system with a nodal connector or circular disk at each intersection. The connections are concealed within ‘node housings’ and it is these that Billings Jackson was commissioned to design. Given the fact that each node must adjust to accommodate the differences in surface articulation across the structure, refining the appearance of these junctions was a complex challenge.

Abu Dhabi will be hosting its first Formula One Grand Prix in November 2009. Work on the hotel commenced in February 2008 with completion due in September 2009.