Sky Needle

Within the density and the narrow streets of down town Nicosia, with the resulting pressure pushing to ever higher developments, the Sky Needle is a competition entry designed to provide what might be described as an elegant response within a particularly tight site.

 The design is a combination of transparency and tightly knit space reaching actively into the sky.  Protrusions in the manner of spaces and shading devices inform the otherwise steep ascent, providing an intricate fabric to an extreme gesture. Hence both external and internal spaces on the east and south façades achieve adjustable levels of transparency. These also provide a mechanism with which the bioclimatic strategy of the design can be implemented. Shading is paramount in every Mediterranean city. The north elevation is a glazed element which enables one to take in the view of the old city, within the Venetian walls and with the Pentadaktylos mountains as a backdrop. At the lower levels commercial facilities and a gym help integrate the element into the city fabric.

Competitions lend themselves to extreme vocabulary but, it is always imperative that this is not allowed to take over. A balance must be maintained. The result, day or night, is an element of elegance and grace which makes a statement against the city landscape.