Jordan Gate: Amman's biggest blight re-imagined as its greenest asset!

Published May 1st, 2016 - 06:13 GMT

A pair of unfinished skyscrapers loom large on Amman's skyline, arguably the biggest manmade blight in this tiny kingdom. For over five years, construction on Jordan Gate has stalled, allegedly embroiled in stakeholder litigation.

Now the architects at Hanna Salameh Design have proposed a radical solution to the enormous eyesore that would transform this developmental disaster into a positive project that contributes to community, generates renewable energy, and enhances regional food security too. Although conceptual, their ideas could be the way of the future.

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The design proposal has attracted a robust public response. One fan suggested turning the remaining office space into a government center, centralizing Jordan's many authorities and governmental offices, and in turn, reducing the time and fuel citizens now burn running all over the capital to get stamps, signatures, legal documents and licenses.

This site was formerly a popular public park surrounded by a dense and upscale residential community; it is unclear how the property passed to developers. The location doesn't support car traffic that the planned offices, commercial spaces and hotel would generate, nor is it defined how its enormous water and sewage demands would be serviced.

As the glass-clad towers rose, neighbors complained about reflected glare, causing intense heat gain in their houses and changes in area airflow. Construction further aggravated local traffic, which was already overburdened by a large hotel in the area. The project was to provide four floors of interior parking, insufficient for its planned users.

The Hanna Salameh Design team took on the conceptual design challenge of converting this architectural "white elephant", highly visible from most of Amman. They begin by proposing removing most of the 25,000 glass windows that clad the buildings, re-purposing them into photovoltaic (PV) panels and re-installing them on the on the south facades.

The southern facades can accommodate 1,500 panels which can generate renewable energy to power all building functions, with surplus to share with adjacent neighbors. This is the equivalent of placing eight PV panels on every house in the adjacent 800 m2 neighborhood, stretching from 6th Circle to 7th Circle in central Amman!

Each tower now contains 180 m tall elevator shafts. Architect Salameh proposes creating openings at the base of each shaft, building on the ancient Middle East 'wind tower' concept wherein rising hot air produces strong in-shaft currents, naturally cooling lower levels. Added wind turbines can transform this movement into electrical energy.

The design team then looked at building functionality, turning portions of the towers into vertical, urban farms! Popular in-kingdom crops such as cucumbers and tomatoes can be cultivated using natural sunlight plus state-of-the-art hydroponics. They envision creating 2,500 m2 of arable land - in the sky - fed in part by recaptured rainwater.

Double the growing season by installing highly energy efficient LED lights, and planting on vertical surfaces too. The designers suggest the towers could provide a total planting area of 200,000 m2, as if a giant farm was planted in the middle of the city. Specialty crops could also be grown; everything can be sold through local farmers' markets.

What to do with the remaining 15,000 glass panels? Dismantle and re-purpose them as bus shelters; there is enough material to build 1,900 bus stops in Amman and across the kingdom. The designers imagine them being used to educate the public with messages promoting energy and water saving tips that everyone can act upon.

How to make these giant buildings relate to human scale? Create a street-level greenspace, and open up the roof of the first-level basement to admit sunlight and connect it to the park above. Use more of the glass panels to create stalls for a farmers' market. Selling directly to consumers saves energy on shipping and cuts harmful CO2 emissions.

But why stop there? Architect Salameh envisions a viewing deck on the top floor to allow unobstructed access to the panorama of Amman. Add a restaurant on top that serves food cooked from the organic produce grown in the towers' farms. Outside, install over-the-top entertainment - a hi-tech roller coaster, in-city bungee jumping, or ziplines.

The design proposal has attracted a robust public response. One fan suggested turning the remaining office space into a government center, centralizing Jordan's many authorities and governmental offices, and in turn, reducing the time and fuel citizens now burn running all over the capital to get stamps, signatures, legal documents and licenses.

The designers assert that costs to implement their scheme is less than finishing the original project. That's not yet supported by an in-depth feasibility analysis, and the biggest obstacle to making this concept real is the issue of property ownership. Architect Salameh is optimistic. Track his progress on on Twitter using #JordanGatePark.

Jordan Gate's twin towers were meant to house high-end retail and residential spaces in affluent west Amman. On completion they would be the tallest towers in Jordan's capital, but the project was stalled due to financial problems following the global financial crisis in 2009. Work has been on hold since 2012.

This site was formerly a popular public park surrounded by a dense and upscale residential community; it is unclear how the property passed to developers. The location doesn't support car traffic that the planned offices, commercial spaces and hotel would generate, nor is it defined how its enormous water and sewage demands would be serviced.

As the glass-clad towers rose, neighbors complained about reflected glare, causing intense heat gain in their houses and changes in area airflow. Construction further aggravated local traffic, which was already overburdened by a large hotel in the area. The project was to provide four floors of interior parking, insufficient for its planned users.

The Hanna Salameh Design team took on the conceptual design challenge of converting this architectural "white elephant", highly visible from most of Amman. They begin by proposing removing most of the 25,000 glass windows that clad the buildings, re-purposing them into photovoltaic (PV) panels and re-installing them on the on the south facades.

The southern facades can accommodate 1,500 panels which can generate renewable energy to power all building functions, with surplus to share with adjacent neighbors. This is the equivalent of placing eight PV panels on every house in the adjacent 800 m2 neighborhood, stretching from 6th Circle to 7th Circle in central Amman!

Each tower now contains 180 m tall elevator shafts. Architect Salameh proposes creating openings at the base of each shaft, building on the ancient Middle East 'wind tower' concept wherein rising hot air produces strong in-shaft currents, naturally cooling lower levels. Added wind turbines can transform this movement into electrical energy.

The design team then looked at building functionality, turning portions of the towers into vertical, urban farms! Popular in-kingdom crops such as cucumbers and tomatoes can be cultivated using natural sunlight plus state-of-the-art hydroponics. They envision creating 2,500 m2 of arable land - in the sky - fed in part by recaptured rainwater.

Double the growing season by installing highly energy efficient LED lights, and planting on vertical surfaces too. The designers suggest the towers could provide a total planting area of 200,000 m2, as if a giant farm was planted in the middle of the city. Specialty crops could also be grown; everything can be sold through local farmers' markets.

What to do with the remaining 15,000 glass panels? Dismantle and re-purpose them as bus shelters; there is enough material to build 1,900 bus stops in Amman and across the kingdom. The designers imagine them being used to educate the public with messages promoting energy and water saving tips that everyone can act upon.

How to make these giant buildings relate to human scale? Create a street-level greenspace, and open up the roof of the first-level basement to admit sunlight and connect it to the park above. Use more of the glass panels to create stalls for a farmers' market. Selling directly to consumers saves energy on shipping and cuts harmful CO2 emissions.

But why stop there? Architect Salameh envisions a viewing deck on the top floor to allow unobstructed access to the panorama of Amman. Add a restaurant on top that serves food cooked from the organic produce grown in the towers' farms. Outside, install over-the-top entertainment - a hi-tech roller coaster, in-city bungee jumping, or ziplines.

The design proposal has attracted a robust public response. One fan suggested turning the remaining office space into a government center, centralizing Jordan's many authorities and governmental offices, and in turn, reducing the time and fuel citizens now burn running all over the capital to get stamps, signatures, legal documents and licenses.

The designers assert that costs to implement their scheme is less than finishing the original project. That's not yet supported by an in-depth feasibility analysis, and the biggest obstacle to making this concept real is the issue of property ownership. Architect Salameh is optimistic. Track his progress on on Twitter using #JordanGatePark.

Jordan Gate: Amman's biggest blight re-imagined as its greenest asset!

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