The Marina Torch, Residential skyscraper in Dubai Marina, United Arab Emirates.
The Marina Torch is a 352-metre residential skyscraper of 86 floors above ground and 4 below, opened in May 2011 with 676 apartments and six retail units. Its facade is divided into rounded vertical bays of blue-green glass, separated by flat pale gray concrete columns and horizontal floor bands, with a narrow grid of small square windows running up the centre line.
The tower's concept design by Khatib and Alami was revised by National Engineering Bureau after Select Group took over from Al Rashideen Trading Company. Foundations were still under construction in April 2007, and the building opened in May 2011 as the world's tallest residential building, surpassing Q1 in Gold Coast, Australia.
The tower's name comes from its shape: a slender shaft of blue-green glass bays rising between pale gray concrete columns, likened to a torch. Its 676 apartments and six retail units house a largely expatriate community, and the building is known locally as Dubai Torch or The Torch.
The building operates eight elevators to facilitate vertical movement for all residents across the tower. Additional amenities include swimming pools, fitness facilities, and shops that serve the needs of those living in the building.
After the 2015 fire, Dubai Civil Defence announced in autumn 2015 that it would buy Martin Jetpack single-person aircraft, delivered in 2016, to help first responders fight high-rise fires. The 2015 blaze charred cladding from the 50th floor to the top and left 101 apartments uninhabitable.
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