One Za’abeel, Dubai
Nikken Sekkei

The 305-meter-tall Tower A contains private homes, penthouses, a luxury resort and concept hotel, as well as offices. Further penthouses and residences are located in Tower B, which rises to a height of 235 meters. Each of the towers has a separate entrance area and sufficient basement car parking, and one of them even houses an event venue.

This “symbolic gateway” in the heart of Dubai was completed in 2023 and soon established itself as a new landmark. The four-story bridge between the two towers spans a six-lane-highway and is topped by the UAE’s longest rooftop infinity pool, aiming to resemble a beach in the sky. THE LINK is also the world’s longest cantilever.

Dubai is a city of superlatives. It is the city with the most skyscrapers taller than 300 meters and home to the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa, which is the highest building in the world. It was also the third most visited city worldwide in 2023, and the seventh most visited city in 2024. In view of other projects as well, such as the Palm Islands, Dubai’s architecture is one of grand gestures.

Founded in 1900, Nikken Sekkei is not only the oldest but also the largest architecture firm in Japan. One Za’abeel’s apparently simple structure with its graceful glass facades and minimalist design challenges Dubai’s tradition of sculptural architecture. The sculptural gesture inherent in One Za’abeel is its bold engineering and the structural and conceptual setup of THE LINK, rather than its architectural profile.

Among other FSB products, One Za’abeel features our classic FSB 1076 in stainless steel, which embodies the concept of an interconnection. The design dates back to Robert Mallet-Stevens in the 1920s and his idea of bisecting a round tube and fitting the two mitered pieces together to form a right angle. A century after its origination, this aspect of a connection is reflected in One Za’abeel – in one of the world’s fastest developing regions.