CONSTRUCTION OF HYDROPOLIS UNDERWATER HOTEL

Hydropolis Underwater Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates


Official name: The Crescent Hydropolis Resort

Built               :  2009-2013

 

Cost                : $500,000,000

 Designed by  : Joachim Hauser

 Type               : Hotel

Maximum depth: 66 feet

Dubai, Hydropolis is  the world's first luxury underwater hotel. It will include three elements: the land station, where guests will be welcomed, the connecting tunnel, which will transport people by train to the main area of the hotel, and the 220 suites within the submarine leisure complex. It is one of the largest contemporary construction projects in the world, covering an area of 260 hectares and it’s located at about 20-30 meters below the surface.

Dubai Underwater Hotel is well looked after in many emergency situations with the help of modern technology and innovative equipment. There are a series of watertight doors which allow management of the hotel to completely seal off the entire sections of the hotel complex, in case there is a sudden rupture. The complex is supposed to have its own system of missile which will safeguard itself in any probable case of terrorist attack

The project is divided into three sections. The "land station" is the complex where visitors are first greeted. It is a large building with a roof that dips and rolls like the crest of a wave. From there, people enter a tunnel to begin their journey to the hotel, itself. The tunnel is 1,700 feet long and carries a train beneath both the land and the sea. The destination, of course, is the hotel itself. Mimicking natural forms, it is shaped like a collection of bubbles and curves designed to provide maximum resistance against the pressures of the sea water as well as the occasional typhoon that may stray into this area. It has already been compared to both a jellyfish and a sea turtle. The hotel features a pair of observation domes which allow an expansive view of the water and the creatures that live in it. They are large enough to emerge above the waves, and one has a retractable roof allowing people to be surrounded by the ocean while looking directly into the sky.

From the surface, the hotel has the appearance of a futuristic artificial circular atoll with a low barrier barely rising above the waves. On the inside of that perimeter are the main structures with curving shell-like surfaces at home in the sea.

 

 

To enter this surreal space, visitors will begin at the land station. This 120m woven, semicircular cylinder will arch over a multi-storey building

 

 

In many areas, it is not easy to see Dubai's sky without at least one crane in your view; some say 16% of the world's large construction cranes reside in Dubai. Construction in Dubai and the UAE in general is being done at a much faster process than in any Western country. This is partly because laborers from the Indian subcontinent accept lower wages than those from other countries.

Satellite image of Hydropolis