Cityzen unveils new tower by ZHA

Serving as the gateway to the Cityzen community, a new civic hub in the west of Tbilisi, Cityzen Tower is Zaha Hadid Architects' first project in Georgia…

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From the architect: Located at the intersection of Mikheil Tamarashvili and University streets in the heart of Tbilisi, the new Cityzen Tower incorporates residential apartments, commercial premises and leisure amenities for the city.

Built on the site of the former military headquarters of Soviet forces in central and south Caucasus, the tower is located within the new Cityzen community in the Saburtalo district of Tbilisi, an evolving urban area served by Line 2 of the city’s metro system and includes several faculties of state universities as well as commercial areas and new residential developments.

Encompassing new homes together with civic amenities, workspaces, shopping and dining for the city’s growing population, the Cityzen neighbourhood creates a new civic hub in the west of Tbilisi with a series of interconnected pedestrian routes, public plazas and gardens that encourage a sense of community and provide 23,000 sq. m of landscaped outdoor areas for recreation and relaxation.

Retaining 250 of the site’s existing mature trees, Cityzen is also located adjacent to Tbilisi’s Central Park, a new 36-hectare parkland with a variety of botanical gardens, woodlands and sports facilities for the city’s residents.

Informed by the rolling hills intersected with river valleys that wind through the undulating cityscape of Tbilisi, Cityzen Tower’s design by Zaha Hadid Architects echoes its context at the intersection of the city’s urbanism and its natural environments.

Serving as the gateway to this new urban district of Tbilisi, the tower has been designed as a vertical extension of the nature within the adjacent Central Park. A series of cascading landscaped terraces extend from the tower towards the park, providing south-facing outdoor spaces for cafes, restaurants and other community activities at lower levels.

These terraces transform as the tower rises to serve as external social spaces for each of the office floors above. At the tower’s higher floors, the terraces serve as balconies of the residential apartments with panoramic views of the park and city skyline.

The tower’s composition is defined by the gradual unification of the large communal areas facing the park on its lower floors merging into the smaller, diamond-shaped footprint of the residences above. This design ensures every apartment has excellent natural lighting conditions and exceptional views. These differing footplate requirements between the lower and higher floors gradually amalgamate, defining an incremental twist in the tower’s overall composition.

Detailed local wind and solar analysis has also informed elements of the 42-storey tower’s design to ensure optimal comfort for residents and visitors to Cityzen’s public plazas, outdoor terraces and recreational areas.

Situated within Tbilisi’s humid temperate climate, the 57,000 sq. m Cityzen Tower is designed to optimise natural ventilation. Its extended balconies and external louvres will minimise direct sunlight in summer and enhance solar radiation in winter to further reduce energy demand.

The tower’s concrete structure continues the tradition and expertise in concrete construction of Tbilisi’s local suppliers and workforce. Designed to achieve LEED Gold certification, the tower’s procurement will target the use of locally recycled materials when available. The Cityzen development will also implement rainwater collection and reuse via its on-site reservoir. All planting throughout the complex will use native vegetation that does not require supplemental irrigation.

Zaha Hadid Architects’ first project in Georgia, Cityzen Tower is scheduled to complete in 2028. A subsidiary of IG Development Georgia, Cityzen is known for its innovative approach to architecture, design, and urban planning.

Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)
Client: Cityzen
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia
Year: 2024 - 2028
Project size: 66,587 sqm
Design: Patrik Schumacher
ZHA Project Director: Manuela Gatto
ZHA Project Associate: Yevgeniya Pozigun
ZHA Project Architects: Takehiko Iseki, Massimo Napoleoni
ZHA Project Leads: Armando Bussey (Design), Bowen Miao (Facade), Maria Avrami (BIM)
ZHA Technical Coordination: Kutbuddin Nadiadi
ZHA Project Team: Alicia Hidalgo Lopez, Armando Bussey, Besan Abudayah, Bowen Miao, Catherine McCann, Charles Walker, Ignacio Fernandez De Castro, Jessica Wang, Jose Pareja Gomez, Kutbuddin Nadiadi, Laizhen Wu, Manuela Gatto, Maria Avrami, Massimo Napoleoni, Panos Ioakim, Takehiko Iseki, Thomas Bagnoli, Yevgeniya Pozigun
ZHA Analytics & Insights Team: Uli Blum, Danial Haziq
ZHA Sustainability Team: Aleksander Mastalski, Aditya Ambare, Carlos Bausa Martinez, Shibani Choudhury, Disha Shetty
Local Architect: Artstudio Project
Structural Engineers: Capiteli
Façade Engineering: FMT Façade Consultants
MEP: Zerone
Landscape Consultant: Artstudio Project
LEED Consultant: Sustainable Engineering Ltd
Animation: Render. ge
Rendering: Negativ