Masdar HQ

This design for the Masdar Headquarters by the architecture firm AS+GG has been awarded this year's Arabian Property Award for Architecture - Mideast Region by International Property Awards, as well as three other awards in 2008. The centerpiece of Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, it will be the world's first mixed-use, positive energy building.

The building's form calls upon the ancient science and aesthetics of Arabic wind towers, screens, and other vernacular architecture. It uses a collection of eleven wind cones which provide natural ventilation and cooling as well as form oasis-like interior
courtyards. High-thermal-mass exterior glass cladding blocks solar heat while remaining transparent for external views. The roof canopy not only provides shade, but also includes photovoltaic and solar-panel arrays which are designed to harvest more than 100% of the building's annual power needs. Under the shade of the canopy is a sky garden landscaped with indigenous vegetation.