Subtracting sometimes is the best thing engineers can do to make a new structure feel like something new, but they didn’t with this project. Designing a structure in which hundreds of people will work or live is challenging. Not only the exterior part of the plant, but also the interior and the energy system, depend on how the building is built. With that in mind, the Arabs built one of the most distinguishing buildings ever in Bahrain, but they didn’t think carefully enough when they were building a renewable source of energy capture on the very front of the building, and it had to be rethought.
Design mixed with environmental needs is not the best recipe
Integrating systems is never an easy task. A small miscalculation in the plant can cause major problems in the orientation or technical compatibility, and reduce the energy output drastically. As environmental standards are stricter than ever, with the world looking for renewable sources to generate enough power to light up a big city or a car engine, the need for adaptation is bigger – and so are the challenges for engineers.
Meanwhile, in the early 2000s, the concept of embedding wind turbines into skyscrapers was trailblazing. The Bahrain World Trade Center (BWTC), completed in 2008, stands as a pioneering example, featuring three 29-meter wind turbines mounted between its twin towers. This design aimed to harness the prevailing winds from the Persian Gulf, positioning the turbines to generate up to 15% of the building’s energy needs.
The first plant to have wind turbines: Engineers regret building something like this
The Bahrain World Trade Center was the first skyscraper to have wind turbines built into its structure. But the designers didn’t get everything right with the plant. Prof. Bert Blocken from Eindhoven University of Technology points out that if the towers had been flipped the other way, they could have captured almost 15 percent more energy each year. He came to this conclusion using wind tunnel tests and computer simulations on a model of the building.
The design mistake of the Bahrain WTC even became one of the examples discussed in TU/e’s online course back when it happened. The six-week MOOC, called Sports & Building Aerodynamics, lets students explore how aerodynamics can be applied in both buildings and sports – and unfortunately, for them, the wind vibration technology wasn’t created before.
Harsh words from an expert: Excitement often comes with mistakes
The plants, completed in 2008 in Manama, cost around $150 million and are connected by three bridges. Each bridge holds a wind turbine facing the prevailing wind. The towers are shaped like funnels to channel the wind between them, boosting efficiency. That was the idea, at least. But Blocken says intuition only goes so far. “Designs based on gut feeling often miss the mark,” he notes. His tests show that flipping the towers or moving the turbines slightly back could have produced up to 31 percent more energy each year. Still, practical and financial limits make that solution for the plant unrealistic.
Other structures have the same problem: Solutions are being studied
The Bahrain WTC is not alone in this. The Strata Tower in London, for example, also struggles with turbines that rarely turn—and when they do, the offices below are noisy. The future seems to be a bit different from what the designers from Bahrain World Trade Center envisioned when creating the plant, as wind turbines are being commercialized to common buyers to have them installed in their backyard. If the solution might not be having them installed in the structure, they can be closer, like this one from a U.S. company that adapts to the aesthetic of the region.
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