core sector communique

Spectacular architecture in Abu Dhabi: ThyssenKrupp Nirosta produces stainless steel for the facades of the "Sowwah Square" financial center

Until recently Sowwah Island was just a lonely patch of desert in the Persian Gulf. Now the roughly 100-hectare island, which is part of Abu Dhabi, is a hive of activity as work progresses on the construction of a new business district: a kind of "Arabian Manhattan", at the heart of which is a five-building complex housing the United Arab Emirates' new financial center. The "Sowwah Square" project was designed by world-famous Chicago-based architects Goettsch Partners. A key element of the buildings are their special facades. The stainless steel materials for these facades were recently manufactured at the Krefeld and Dillenburg plants of ThyssenKrupp Nirosta and are now being delivered by ThyssenKrupp Stainless International.

Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates and one of the world's fastest-growing cities, is currently working to further expand its skyline and its infrastructure. Sowwah Square is the flagship of the new Abu Dhabi: The group of four towers in the future financial district, from 31 to 37 stories, will offer around 285,000 square meters of office space. There will also be a five-star hotel. Standing lengthways in front of the four towers is the 22,000-square-meter Securities Exchange. This iconic, four-level trapezoidal building rises 27 meters above a water feature on four piers. It is surrounded by retail outlets, restaurants and cafés. The building's roof is the size of a football field and is equipped with photovoltaic panels.

Due to the extremely hot climate, the buildings have ventilated, double-skin facades. There is also a system of external blinds that automatically follow the sun to control the interior temperature. The exteriors of all five buildings on Sowwah Square feature stainless steel, in part combined with other materials such as glass, giving them a particularly elegant, high-class look. ThyssenKrupp Nirosta recently manufactured more than 400 metric tons of Nirosta 4404 material (partly with linen finish) for this project. The order was acquired and handled by ThyssenKrupp Stainless International, the global sales organization for the stainless producer, which delivered the material to companies in the United Arab Emirates and Austria for further processing.

"Following Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the Doha Airport project, Sowwah Square is another showcase for our materials in the Arab world," says Gert Weiß, head of product service at ThyssenKrupp Nirosta. "These examples highlight once again the outstanding role played today by stainless steel in the exteriors of spectacular architectural designs." Construction work on Sowwah Square started in 2007 and will be completed in the coming months. Abu Dhabi's new financial district will open next year. The architects hope it will become a key business center for the Middle East while setting international standards for design and technical quality.

ThyssenKrupp Nirosta GmbH is one of the world's leading manufacturers of stainless flat products with a broad range of stainless steel grades, sizes and finishes. The Krefeld-based company has supplied materials for many skyscrapers, including the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. ThyssenKrupp Nirosta has several sites in Germany and employs around 4,200 people.
ThyssenKrupp Stainless International (Krefeld) complements the direct sales activities of ThyssenKrupp Nirosta in Germany and ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni in Italy, selling cold-rolled and hot-rolled stainless steel in all market regions worldwide with the exception of North America. The company has around 400 employees and sells approximately 700,000 metric tons of material worldwide each year. ThyssenKrupp Stainless International has service centers in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Poland, Hungary and Turkey as well as a sales company in the Benelux states and a warehouse with processing facilities in southern China. It also has sales offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Brazil, Singapore and Vietnam.