Under the sea: Dubai's underwater hotel takes shape

Friday 9 September 2011


The Hydropolis underwater hotel
 Photo: Design Build Network
December 13, 2007 Anywhere but Dubai, the idea of building a luxury hotel 66 feet underwater would sound far-fetched. But next to the Burj-al-arab, the rotating skyscraper, manufactured islands and indoor ski slopes of the desert commerce capital, the Hydropolis will fit right in. At a rough cost of UK£300 million, this jaw-dropping engineering challenge will allow guests to get a true taste for the peace and beauty of underwater life – and at a projected pricetag of up to USD$5500 per night for a room, you'd certainly be hoping that life is much better down where it's wetter.

While the idea of an underwater hotel might not be unique (The US$105 millionPoseidon Mystery Island resort in Fiji, also under construction, is likely to open its doors first), the Hydropolis will be several times larger, deeper underwater, and far more opulent than its rivals.


Guests and visitors will arrive at the land station, on Dubai's Jumeirah Beach, where they can view a high-tech cinema presentation on the evolution of aquatic life and underwater architecture. The wave-shaped land station will be stunning to look at in its own right, and it will house Hydropolis staff, marine biology research labs, a conference center, parking and even a cosmetic surgery practice.
At the bottom level lies a 515-metre long tunnel, which takes guests by silent, automatic train out past the shoreline to where the underwater hotel itself lies. While all 220 of the hotel's bubble-shaped suites lie on the floor of the Persian Gulf, 66 feet (20 metres) under the surface of the water, the twin domes of the hotel's concert auditorium and ballroom will break through the surface. The ballroom's retractable roof will allow guests to enjoy open-air events, with panoramic views of the coastline and the Dubai skyline when the weather's fine – which, being Dubai, will be almost all of the time.


The Hydropolis will be well-looked after in emergencies – a series of watertight doors will allow management to completely seal off entire sections of the complex in the case of a rupture (here's hoping there's nobody in the sealed bits!) – and in anticipation that such an extravagant project might be a terrorist target, the complex will have its own missile defense system.

The Hydropolis Group's Executive Chariman, Joachim Hauser, assembled a team of offshore and submarine construction specialists to design and build the Hydropolis – but it seems Hauser is using the project as somewhat of a dry-run for an even more difficult and expensive venture. Since 1999, he has been working on a German taskforce to research and design a tourist hotel in space, which makes the financial and technical challenges of this underwater venture pale in comparison.

Nonetheless, due to marine environment issues and the herculean task of securing finance for such an ambitious project, the Hydropolis construction timeline has blown out somewhat – it was originally scheduled to be opened by the end of 2007, but is now expected to be completed by 2009.

216 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   201 – 216 of 216   Newer›   Newest»
  1. Anonymous said...:

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I truly appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for your further write ups thanks
    once again.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    I’m not that much of a online reader to
    be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up! I'll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back down the road.
    Cheers

  1. Anonymous said...:

    I like the valuable info you provide in your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and
    check again here regularly. I am quite certain I'll learn plenty of
    new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Terrific post but I was wondering if you could write a
    litte more on this subject? I'd be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit further.

    Cheers!

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Magnificent beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your site, how could i subscribe for a
    blog site? The account aided me a acceptable deal.

    I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast provided bright clear concept

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Its not my first time to visit this website, i am browsing this website dailly and
    obtain pleasant facts from here all the time.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    When I originally commented I clicked the "Notify me when new comments are added" checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several e-mails with the same
    comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service?

    Cheers!

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Hello, this weekend is fastidious in favor of me, as this moment i am reading this impressive informative post here at my residence.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Thaanks for sharing your info. I truly appreciate your efforts and I am waiting
    for your next post hanks once again.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Helⅼo, tһis weekend is nice in favor of me,
    for the гeasоn that this occaѕion i am reading this wonderful educational piece of writing herе at my
    home.
    Cheϲk Out Your URL : How To Password Protect Folder From Sϲratch

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Howdy just wantsd to give you a quick heads up.

    The text in your post seem to be running offf the screen inn Firefox.

    I'm not sure if thyis is a format issue or something
    too do with internet browser compatibility but I
    figured I'd post to let you know. The design and style loook great though!
    Hope you get the problem resolved soon. Thanks

  1. Anonymous said...:

    esch time i used tto read smaller content that
    also clear their motive, and that is also happening with
    this article which I am reading at this place.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Hellko to every one, as I am actually keen off reading this blog's post to be updated on a regilar basis.
    It includes nice stuff.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Paragraph writing is also a excitement, if you be famikiar wiith the yyou can write otherwise it is complicated to write.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Please let me know if you're looking foor a article author for your
    site. You have some really grezt articlkes and I believe I would be a good asset.
    If you ever want to take some of the load off, I'd absolutely love to wrkte some articles for your blog in exchange for a link back
    to mine. Please send me an e-mail if interested. Many thanks!

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Ahaa, its fastidious discussion regarding this post at this place at this weblog,
    I have redad all that, soo at this time me also commenting here.

«Oldest ‹Older   201 – 216 of 216   Newer› Newest»

Post a Comment

Thanks for your lovely comments!♥

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
Information © 2011 | Designed by Sahrish Shamim , E-mail sahrish77@gmail.com