Doha Tower

Doha Tower is one of the most admired skyscrapers in the Gulf, a cylindrical high-rise in the West Bay financial district designed by the celebrated French architect Jean Nouvel. Completed in 2012 and rising around 238 metres, it stands out even among Doha's crowded skyline of glass towers and has become a symbol of the modern city.

Its facade is its signature. The whole cylinder is wrapped in a layered aluminium screen inspired by the mashrabiya, the latticed wooden screens of traditional Arab architecture. The butterfly-like pattern shifts in density up the building, densest where the sun strikes hardest, filtering the fierce light, cutting heat gain and casting intricate moving shadows across the interior through the day.

Structurally it is unusual too. The tower has no internal columns, relying instead on a diagonal steel exterior frame, or diagrid, that lets the floor plates open up around a central concrete core. That engineering, combined with its elegant, richly ornamented skin, earned it international awards and a reputation as a rare piece of genuine architecture among the region's more generic commercial towers.

It is a working office building rather than a visitor attraction, so there is no public observation deck, but it is a rewarding sight from the street. The best views are from the West Bay Corniche and the waterfront across the bay near the Museum of Islamic Art, especially after dark when the screen is lit from within and the whole pattern glows. Combine it with a walk along the Corniche, where the full cluster of West Bay towers lines up dramatically above the water. A drink at one of the West Bay rooftop bars nearby offers the best elevated vantage point over the whole tower cluster.