The Central Bank of Iraq Tower (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: برج البنك المركزي العراقي) (Romanized: Burj albank almarkazii aleiraqii) also known as

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ar, زها حديد ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centu ...

tower, is a 37 story, tower located on the banks of the

Tigris river The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the P ...

in the Al-Jadiriya district of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, Iraq. The tower aims to become

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

's second tallest building after the E1 tower in

Erbil Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000. Hu ...

. and

's tallest building with a height of 170m. The tower is entirely usable space and has no antenna. The tower symbolizes a new era for Baghdad and Iraq as a whole.

Overview

The

Central bank of Iraq The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) ( ar, البنك المركزي العراقي) is the central bank of Iraq. It was established in 1947, the same year in which the British occupation of Iraq was ended. CBI's primary objectives are to ensure domestic ...

(CBI) had commissioned the Iraqi-British architect

in 2010 to design the project, and was presented in 2011, however construction on the project only began in late 2018 and it's scheduled to be completed in 2022. The tower will serve as the new headquarters for the

, Iraq's national bank. It's also features VIP entrance, visitor entrance, main lobby, museums, personnel entrance, energy center, public area, personnel facility, cash management area, data center, security center and landscaping areas.

Design

The powerful structural exoskeleton frames the facade which is itself composed of alternating pattern of open and closed elements that visually and conceptually mimic the light reflection from waves in the river below, reinforcing the dynamism of the design and serving the practical purpose of providing a variety of areas of light and shade within. Solid and purposeful at its base, the exoskeleton gradually opens and reduces the tower rises skywards, bringing greater lightness and views across the capital, Baghdad. The bank's podium weaves hard and soft landscaping together and anchors the building within its context; gradually adjusting its scale through a series of landscaped terraces and gardens to directly engage with surrounding neighborhood and manage access to the bank. The vertical layers of the tower's exoskeleton are transformed to the horizontal podium and subtly re-emerge within the landscape.

Gallery

Sources

{{Commonscatinline Buildings and structures completed in 2022 Skyscrapers in Iraq Buildings and structures in Baghdad