Last spring, my wife and I took our first international trip in years – a visit to our son who’s working in the Middle East. While she was content spending time with our grandson, I found myself fascinated by some of the modern architecture I was seeing. One afternoon in Abu Dhabi, I spent hours just watching the Al Bahar Towers from a nearby café. These twin buildings were doing something I’d never seen before – their outer walls were actually moving, opening and closing like enormous flowers following the sun.
Being an engineer, I had to understand how it worked. After some persistence and help from our son’s contacts, I managed to get a tour from one of the facilities management people. What I learned during that visit has been influencing the modifications I’ve been making to our own home ever since.
The towers represent something I’d been reading about but never seen executed at this scale – buildings that actually work with their environment instead of just trying to overpower it with brute-force air conditioning and artificial lighting. After thirty-eight years of living in the same house and watching energy bills climb every summer, this approach made immediate sense to me.
The moving facade – they call it a kinetic mashrabiya system – uses sensors to track where the sun is throughout the day. Individual shade panels automatically open or close to let in light while blocking heat. It’s like having venetian blinds that adjust themselves perfectly all day long, except these are on the outside of a skyscraper and they’re beautiful to watch.
But what really impressed me wasn’t the fancy moving parts – it was how they’d thought through the whole system. The water management alone would solve problems I’ve been wrestling with in our yard for years. They collect and reuse greywater, harvest what little rainwater they get, and landscape with plants that can handle the desert climate without constant watering.
The fellow who showed me around explained how the shade system works with the building’s cooling system. When the panels close to block afternoon sun, the air conditioning doesn’t have to work as hard. When they open to let in morning light, people inside don’t need to turn on as many electric lights. It’s the kind of integrated thinking I wish I’d understood when we were doing our kitchen remodel fifteen years ago.
What struck me was how this connected to things my grandmother’s generation knew instinctively. She grew up in a farmhouse with deep porches, tall windows, and awnings that got adjusted throughout the day. People used to build in ways that worked with the weather instead of fighting it. Somehow we forgot all that when central air conditioning became affordable.
These towers in Abu Dhabi are using space-age technology to recreate principles that were common sense a century ago. The difference is they can do it automatically and at a scale that would be impossible to manage manually. Sensors and computers handle what used to require someone constantly adjusting awnings and opening or closing windows.
During my visit, I got to see how the interior spaces felt throughout the day. Even with intense desert sun outside, the offices had beautiful natural light without glare or excessive heat. The temperature stayed comfortable, and you could actually see the landscape outside instead of hiding behind heavy curtains or tinted windows.
The water conservation systems reminded me of conversations I’ve been having with folks at our church about reducing our facility’s utility costs. These towers reuse almost everything – greywater from sinks feeds the landscape irrigation, rainwater gets collected and stored, and they chose plants that barely need additional watering once established. They’ve cut water usage by 40% compared to similar buildings.
I came home with pages of notes and started researching whether any of these approaches could work on a residential scale in Michigan. Turns out some of them can, though obviously not at the same level of sophistication. I’ve been experimenting with automated window coverings that adjust based on sun angle, though my first attempt was a disaster – too complicated and kept malfunctioning.
Biophilic design principles were evident throughout both towers, though I didn’t know that term at the time. Natural materials, connections to the outdoor environment, and lighting that changes throughout the day like we evolved to expect. The offices felt more like pleasant indoor gardens than typical corporate spaces.
The economic case is what convinced me this isn’t just feel-good environmentalism – it’s practical engineering. Energy consumption runs 30% lower than comparable buildings, water usage is down 40%, and the operational savings pay back the higher construction costs within ten years. Those are numbers any business manager or homeowner can understand.
What impressed me most was how the building keeps learning and improving. Computer systems track energy usage, water consumption, and equipment performance continuously. When something isn’t working optimally, the management team can spot it immediately and make adjustments. It’s like having a home monitoring system that actually helps you save money instead of just generating data.
The towers have become a model for other projects across the region. Architects and government officials regularly visit to understand how similar approaches might work in their own developments. It’s proof that sustainable design can be both economically viable and architecturally striking in challenging climates.
Advanced building technologies integrated throughout both structures continue evolving through ongoing monitoring and optimization. This adaptive approach appeals to my engineer’s mindset – systems that can be modified and improved as technology advances rather than becoming obsolete.
Back home, I’ve been applying lessons learned from studying these towers to our own house modifications. Obviously, I can’t install a kinetic facade, but the principles of working with natural light and solar angles have informed several projects. The automated greenhouse ventilation system I built for my wife uses similar sensor technology to maintain optimal growing conditions.
What strikes me about the Al Bahar approach is how it addresses both immediate performance and long-term adaptability. Systems are designed to be upgraded as technology improves. The facade can accommodate different shading patterns as building needs change. It’s the opposite of planned obsolescence – design for continuous improvement.
The architectural team’s integration of traditional building wisdom with contemporary environmental technology offers lessons far beyond hot climates. Climate-responsive architecture that respects cultural context while achieving measurable environmental benefits could work anywhere.
Modern sustainable design rarely manages to be both distinctive and contextually appropriate, but these towers achieve that balance. They’re unmistakably modern and high-tech, yet they feel completely suited to their desert environment. They stand out in Abu Dhabi’s skyline while appearing to belong there naturally.
Our church’s building committee has been discussing improvements to our fellowship hall, and I’ve shared some of what I learned from the Al Bahar towers. We can’t afford kinetic facades, but better natural lighting and improved ventilation systems could reduce our energy costs significantly while making the space more comfortable for our aging congregation.
The towers prove that sustainable architecture can be financially viable even in challenging conditions. More importantly, they demonstrate that environmental performance and architectural excellence aren’t competing goals – they’re different aspects of good design that can reinforce each other when properly integrated.
Watching those buildings adapt to their environment throughout the day was like seeing architecture become a living system rather than just a static shelter. It’s an approach to building that makes sense for anyone dealing with rising energy costs and changing climate conditions, whether you’re managing a skyscraper in the desert or aging in place in suburban Michigan.
Robert is a retired engineer in Michigan who’s spent the past few years adapting his longtime home for accessibility and wellbeing. He writes about practical, DIY ways to make homes more comfortable and life-affirming as we age — from raised-bed gardens to better natural light.
