Jordan Gate Towers (

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 ...

: أبراج بوابة الأردن), also known informally as 6th Circle Towers (Arabic: أبراج الدوار السادس), is a

high class High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

and

residential A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...

project A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, it consists of two high-rise

buildings A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and funct ...

connected by a multi-

storey A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US). T ...

podium A podium (plural podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek ''πόδι'' (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used ...

. Since its beginning, the project suffered from a lot of criticism, accidents, and was suspended for over a decade due to financial hardships between the owner and contractor. However, construction is set to resume again in Q4 2022, and will be completed by December 2024.

Overview

The project is

located In geography, location or place are used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ...

on an elevated

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...

above mean

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

, in the Umm Uthainah Al-Gharbi

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural are ...

of West Amman near the 6th intersection on Zahran

Street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

. Total cost is $300 million, was designed by late Palestinian-Jordanian architect Ja'afar Tuqan, owned by Jordan Gate Company, main contractor i
Al-Hamad Contracting
and the

structural engineering Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and cal ...

office i
alnasser + partners
Total building area is about , and contains: two 38-storey high-rises (named "North and South Towers"), , and connected by a three-storey podium, . The North Tower, high, will host residential

apartments An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are man ...

, while the South Tower, high, will host a 200-room hotel, residential apartments, and offices. The multi-storey podium will host a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

with 70

brands A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

swimming pools A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built above ground (as ...

conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

halls and

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearanc ...

. In addition, there are five

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

parking Parking is the act of stopping and disengaging a vehicle and leaving it unoccupied. Parking on one or both sides of a road is often permitted, though sometimes with restrictions. Some buildings have parking facilities for use of the buildings' ...

storeys, , that have a capacity for 1550

passenger vehicles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

History

The area of land where the project now stands, used to be a

private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...

, and was sold to Greater Amman Municipality in 1959, for the purpose of turning it into a public

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

. In 1978, part of the land, was designated for

investment Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

, which in 1984, became a hotel named Amrah (Arabic: عمرة) (no
Crowne Plaza Amman
, along with a

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

. In 2004, the park, , was sold to Bahrain's

GFH Financial Group GFH Financial Group, previously known as Gulf Finance House, is an Islamic investment bank with headquarters in Bahrain Financial Harbour, Bahrain. One of its most notable investments is a 25% stake in the UK Football Premier League club Leed ...

, and on May 29th, 2005,

King Abdullah II Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبدالله الثاني بن الحسين , translit=ʿAbd Allāh aṯ-ṯānī ibn al-Ḥusayn; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of t ...

laid the foundation stone for the Jordan Gate Project. It was developed in partnership with Greater Amman Municipality
Kuwait Finance and Investment CompanyAl-Hamad Contracting Company
and

Hilton Hilton or Hylton may refer to: Companies * Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name ** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, fla ...

. Later, Greater Amman Municipality sold its share for $40 million: to improve infrastructure around the site ($25 million), and to waiver its name as a partner ($15 million); because the project had violated th
system of buildings
for the number of storeys allowed in that neighbourhood, even though it had already been authorized to progress. Excavation works for

foundations Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

started in June 2005, the buildings started rising above ground level in 2006, breaking in mid-2007 the record for the tallest in Amman, surpassing the Le Royal Hotel Amman of high (since 2013,

Amman Rotana Amman Rotana Hotel is a hotel in New Abdali in the district of Al-Abdali, Amman, Jordan. It is managed by Rotana Hotels. At 188 metres tall, it is ranked first on the list of tallest buildings in Amman Traditionally, the buildings of Amman, Jord ...

, , has been the tallest). In 2008, glazing works started, and the towers topped-out at the end of the year. Later, in 2009 and 2010, construction was slow and intermittent; due to

financial Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

hardship between the

contractor A contractor is a person or company that performs work on a contract basis. The term may refer to: Business roles * Defense contractor, arms industry which provides weapons or military goods to a government * General contractor, an individual o ...

and the

owner Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...

following the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

. In 2011, the financial hardship caused

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

to halt at 70%, the site was abandonded for years, and the buildings have undergone

weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs ''in situ'' (on site, with little or no movement), ...

and

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...

. In May 2016, after many failed negotiations, the conflict between the owner and the contractor had approached a settlement, that nonetheless didn't last for long. In mid-2017, construction works resumed temporary, which mainly included facade cleaning,

tower crane A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist rope, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It is mainly used for lifting heavy objects and transpor ...

replacing, and installing a steel structure on roof for glazing. Finally, in February 2022, Greater Amman Municipality entered again as a partner, by acquiring 31% (amounts for 50 million Jordanian Dinars) of the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of the company that owns the project, construction is officially set to resume in Q4 2022, and will be completed by December 2024.

Construction Resumption

According t
Greater Amman Municipality strategic plan for the years 2022-2026
there are three construction phases to complete the Jordan Gate Towers project, stretching from Q4 2022 till December 2024, as follows: #From Q4 2022 till May 2023, preparing executive plans for architectural and construction works, bills of quantities, specifications and terms of the contractor's contract, implementing external facade works, and isolating the buildings from weather conditions. # Completion works of the North Tower and Central Podium, from May 2023 till December 2024. # Completion works of the South Tower, starting not later than March 2023, after signing a contract with a hotel company, and then the timetable for implementation will be prepared.

Accidents

There were three major accidents during the project's construction from 2006 to 2009:

Fire

A fire broke out on the eighth storey of the north tower in August 2006, but nobody was injured.

Storeys Collapse

In September 2006, just three weeks after the fire, three storeys of the north tower collapsed, killing four workers and injuring 15 others.

Tower Crane Collapse

In May 2009, a part of the crane on the north tower collapsed after it was overloaded. The crane, weighing 20 tons, was about high. There were no injuries, but an Egyptian worker suffered from

shock Shock may refer to: Common uses Collective noun *Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names * Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves Healthcare * Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emerge ...

and was transported to a nearby

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

. For three days following the collapse, families living near the site were evacuated to nearby hotels. The dismantling and removal of the broken crane began on Friday, June 12th, 2009. Four additional cranes were bought to assist in the dismantling process. Within a few months, the crane had been replaced with a new one and work was able to resume.

Criticism

The project has been subjected to a lot of criticism since even before its construction, mainly due to: * Its conflict with the

skyline A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land. City skylines ...

of Amman. *

Noise pollution Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is main ...

that comes from construction works around the clock. * Revealing many surrounding houses and the lack of

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

. * Reflection of sunlight from the glazing. * The weak surrounding

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

such as

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

, and

wastewater Wastewater is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of domestic, industr ...

networks. Moreover,

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...

is on top of all concerns, especially that the neighbourhood is already crowded.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Amman Buildings and structures under construction in Jordan Twin towers Skyscrapers in Amman Tourist attractions in Amman Proposed skyscrapers Skyscraper hotels Residential skyscrapers