Composed of three distinct buildings including an office tower, hotel tower and podium topped with a roof terrace that serves as a connection between the first two, the development is unified by a traditional Arabian carved wood latticework window treatment that offers significant solar control and air circulation. One tower contains a new headquarters for local retail giant Alshaya, while the other is occupied by a world-famous Four Seasons hotel with distinctive interiors by Canadian duo George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg.

"The architectural expression takes the concept of traditional mashrabiya shading in local architecture and reinterprets it to create a new focal point for the city's elite social scene," said Gensler principal and global hospitality leader, Tom Lindblom. "It's modulating aluminium facade is both visually appealing and enhances users' privacy during the day." The perforated metal fins are altered in scale across the facades and are positioned in a special way to ensure optimal solar protection for the occupied interior spaces, as well as the roof terraces on top of each tower.

Its diamond motif provides shading from a multitude of solar angles, producing an array of colors at varying times of the day and creates a real shadow theater inside the hotel. To achieve this, the size and scale of these 3-dimensional modules varies to suit the requirements of the spaces where they are located. For example, in the guestrooms, the façade is more solid and contains small-perforated gaps, while in the podium, the canopy has larger openings to allow for air movement. The dichroic champagne bronze shading fins unite the exterior aesthetic with its interior at night through carefully designed façade lighting.

The Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya occupies 22 storeys and consists of of 284 rooms and suits, two ballrooms, conference suites, food and beverage outlets, a pool and terrace and spa. One of the most fascinating features of the interior is the spiral stair that forms the centerpiece of the lobby. Alongside this circulation space is the Al Soor lobby lounge – one of the five restaurants housed in the building. The geometric patterning of the mashrabiya used in the façade design is also used throughout the hotel in the form of carpets, screens and surface treatments such as the tessellated suspended ceiling above one of the ballrooms. The office tower connects to the hotel, and spans across 60,000m2 and 42 storeys.

"We created a landmark that delivers the functional requirement with an interpretation of local vernacular culture in a contemporary manner—serving guests with care and pride, while echoing Alshaya's philosophy and the Four Seasons brand," Lindblom added.