Soaring 1,260 feet above the surrounding cityscape, the 80-story Capital Market Authority (CMA) Tower is one of the world’s most high-tech supertall buildings.

When it opens in mid-2017, the CMA Tower will position Riyadh as the financial and economic center of the Middle East. It is the centerpiece and tallest structure within the King Abdullah Financial District, a mixed-use development that creates a world-class financial hub for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Capital Market Authority, the government organization responsible for regulating Saudi Arabia’s capital markets, will occupy the top floors of the tower.

Together with its integrated facade system, the iconic geometry of the building contributes to a highly functional yet strikingly originally form on Riyadh’s skyline. The tower’s crystalline facade references the crystals found in wadis—dry ravines located in the Saudi Arabian desert. This transparency creates an open grid and provides access to natural light within the office tower.

A high-performance enclosure incorporates solar shading, photovoltaic solar collection, facade lighting and an innovative facade access system. This integrated solution reinforces the overall building design and geometry while minimizing solar gain and internal cooling loads and reducing HVAC requirements. Energy is reclaimed through a photovoltaic array installation on the tower’s roof.

The modular plan creates a highly efficient interior environment with clear-span floor plates that maintain flexibility and adaptability across every level of the structure. Combining public circulation and private amenity space, the podium structure at the base includes an auditorium, cafeteria and two-story atrium.

An innovative vertical transportation system integrates one of the world’s largest installations of the TWIN® elevator system with double-deck shuttles. Two elevator cabs travel independently—one above the other—in the same shaft.

HOK designed the tower, which is expected to achieve LEED Gold certification, in collaboration with Omrania & Associates.

This first appeared on the architects site, HOK.