DUBAI | Rotating Skyscraper | 30 FLOORS | VISION

[bucks native]

Dubai plans first rotating skyscraper

Posted 11/29/2006 12:14 PM ET

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Arab city with the palm-shaped islands and the sail-shaped hotel is adding to its eclectic skyline by building the world's first rotating skyscraper, a 30-story apartment tower that revolves on its base.

The tower, announced Wednesday, will use the Persian Gulf's abundant sunshine to power the building's slow rotation that brings it full circle once a week, said Nick Cooper, a British engineer designing the rotation mechanism.

"This will be a fair building," said Cooper, of M.G. Bennett and Associates Ltd. of Rotherham, England. "Everybody will have the same views for the same amount of time, so you won't have certain rooms with the best view."

The 80,000-ton building with 200 apartments will sit on a giant bearing 30 yards in diameter, coated with a nearly frictionless polymer, Cooper said. Twenty small electric engines will turn the building a few degrees each hour, Cooper said.

"It will be indexing around on the hour," Cooper said. "It moves very slowly. It's not a theme park ride."

Work on the rotating tower is supposed to begin in June.

"Not only will it defy the laws of gravity and momentum, but also it stands to redefine the standards for luxury living in the region and the world," said Tav Singh of developer Dubai Property Ring.