Meet Yahya Jan, the architect who built the world’s tallest hotel, Dubai’s Ciel Tower

CNN
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If you look at the Dubai skyline, you will probably admire the work of Yahya Jan.

He is president and design director of the architecture and engineering firm NORR, which is behind some of the city’s most famous landmarks, including the Atlantis and Shangri-La hotels.

He is currently working on one of his most ambitious creations. Scheduled for completion by the end of 2024, Ciel Dubai Marina, colloquially known as Ciel Tower, will feature more than 1,000 rooms and suites spread over 82 floors. At approximately 365 metres tall, it is set to become the tallest hotel in the world.

For the project, Jan was commissioned to design the skyscraper on a triangular plot of land in Dubai Marina with an area of ​​just 2,500 square metres – small for a building of this height.

“It’s a very compact area,” he told CNN in 2021. “It’s like what you would face in Manhattan or London. The constraints were enormous, and yet we had to make it work.”

According to developer The First Group, a glass observation deck will offer 360-degree views of the city, as well as the coastline and iconic landmarks such as the man-made Palm Jumeirah island. Visitors will also be able to enjoy the view from a rooftop pool and restaurants.

In addition to being appealing to the senses, the project is energy efficient, using 25 percent less energy for air conditioning than most similar buildings, Jan said.

“This project is not just about architecture. It’s about architecture and engineering,” he added. “That’s why I love this project so much. It’s my passion, the convergence of science and art.”

Throughout construction, Jan said he was “extremely involved” in the work. “When you’re designing a project as complex as Heaven, you can never let your guard down, you can never say it’s finished,” he said. “It’s an ongoing process.”

When Jan arrived in Dubai in 1996, he never imagined he would leave such a legacy, designing some of the city’s most iconic office developments, residential towers and shopping malls.

Jan grew up in Karachi, Pakistan and moved to the United States at the age of 18 on a scholarship. After studying structural engineering at Princeton, he earned a master’s degree in architecture. After that, Jan worked in the United States for nine years and had no intention of leaving until he received a job offer as a senior designer working on the Emirates Towers office and hotel complex.

Now 61, he said he never planned to stay in the UAE for so long, having spent 28 years in Dubai. “I was swept away by the enthusiasm here,” he said.

As for the Ciel Tower, which takes its name from the French word for “sky,” Jan hopes it will be seen as timeless, like the Empire State Building or the Chrysler Building in New York.

“The reason I love that this project is called Sky is because I believe that in our lives, the sky is the limit, and that’s certainly the case in my own life,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to grow up, to do things that I didn’t think I’d have the chance to do. So it’s incredible.”