Located on a prominent corner site within the ‘Dubai International Finance Centre,’ The Index is a continuation of Foster + Partners’ exploration of the skyscraper in the twentyfirst century. The mixed-use components of the 80-storey, 328m tower are clearly defined, and combine 520 luxury apartments with 25 floors of office space, as well as shops, restaurant, a pool and a health club.
The distinctive form is generated by a desire to reveal the structural system and internal organisation of the tower. The upper-level block of apartments are supported by four attenuated A-frame ‘fins’ at 27m centres, which are buttressed at each end elevation. Twenty-five levels of column-free office accommodation are held within from these fins, separated from the residential levels by a glazed sky-lobby. The tower is orientated east to west to maximise views over the Finance Centre and to the coastline and desert beyond. This orientation also reduces solar gain, as the building’s core mass absorbs heat and reduces its reliance on mechanical ventilation. A system of sunshades shelters the interiors on the exposed south elevation.
The Index sits on a generously landscaped plinth level – with sculpted pools of water and an underground car park – and is entered through a dramatic four-storey foyer. The main lift cores, which serve the office floors, are located to the east and west extremities of the tower. A small central lift core, serving 40 levels of apartments, rises to a double-height sky lobby above the office levels and provides accesses to a variety of facilities for residents including a reception, lounge, restaurant, and fitness centre with a swimming pool. A local lift core then transports residents to their individual apartments. The tower is crowned with 12 luxurious duplex and triplex penthouse apartments with spectacular views over Dubai.
