the Crescent Development project

In February 2008, skyscrapernews.com, a well-known architectural review website, published an article about two projects designed by Korean firm Heerim Architects for construction in Baku. The projects, both with a lunar theme, were described as "an attempt to reinvent the concept of the skyscraper beyond the traditional".{{cite web|url=http://skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=1357|title=Full Moon Rising|work=skyscrapernews.com|accessdate=16 January 2015}}

The article described two skyscraper complexes proposed for construction on neighbouring peninsulas, on opposite sides of Baku Bay. The first, Full Moon Bay, was to be built on the western side of the bay. It included a 158-meter, 35-storey disc-shaped hotel called "Palace of the Winds 1 and 2". The second complex, "Caspian Plus", was to be built on the eastern edge of the Baku Bay near the seaport, as a counterpoint to "Full Moon Bay". The second project originally included a 32-storey crescent-shaped hotel (standing on its "horns" offshore), four high-rise residential buildings and a 43-storey, 203-meter-tall commercial centre (now called the Crescent City Tower).

The fate of these projects remained uncertain until October 2009, when foundation work began on the site of the Caspian Plus complex.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

The project has since been modified. A trio of high-rise residential buildings were removed to avoid visual overlap with two other buildings (Port Baku Towers and Port Baku Residence). After modification, the project consisted of a hotel ("The Crescent Hotel"), an office tower ("The Crescent City") and a residential tower with a podium ("The Crescent Place"). The previous name of the project, "Caspian Plus", was changed to "The Crescent Development Project".[http://www.lotos.com.az/en/read/103.html Lotos.com]

The Full Moon Bay project was cancelled.

Part of the Crescent Development Project will be located on Baku's waterfront. An offshore part, including "The Crescent Hotel", will be located on an artificial island about 170 meters from the shore. An office tower ("The Crescent City") and a residential tower with a podium ("The Crescent Place") will be built on the shoreline behind "The Crescent Hotel".

The Crescent Hotel is an arched building. It is designed to look like a crescent moon with its points on the surface of the Caspian Sea. The crescent shape of the building refers to one of the symbols of Azerbaijan depicted on its national flag. The skyscraper's crescent-shaped configuration will not affect the interior of the hotel, as the building will rely on two multi-storey, column-like towers that will create additional space and act as supports for the hotel. These supporting towers are called the Eastern and Western towers, according to their location. The Crescent Hotel has 32 storeys (28 storeys of the hotel itself above a 4-storey podium).{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/16/world/azerbaijan-architecture|title=Half moon hotel shows Baku's stellar architectural ambitions - CNN.com|author=|date=16 November 2011|work=CNN|access-date=16 January 2015}} When completed, the hotel will have 230 guest rooms, 74 apartments and 16 villas. The total area is 177,969 m²², parking is planned for 601 cars. The Crescent Hotel will be connected to the shore and other buildings in the development by a bridge. This hotel is planned to be a 'seven-star' facility.{{cite web|url=http://www.aecom.com/Where+We+Are/Europe/Program+Cost+Consultancy/_projectsList/The+Crescent,+Baku,+Azerbaijan|title=Page Not Found|work=aecom.com|accessdate=16 January 2015}}

The office tower, "The Crescent City", is a 210-meter skyscraper with 43 above-ground floors. It is being built behind "The Crescent Hotel" on the waterfront next to Baku's seaport and the JW Marriott Absheron. According to the project design, the facade of the building is cylindrical and slightly flattened in the north-south direction. The bottom of the tower is narrow and the tower widens as it approaches the top, which has a concave notch. The shape of The Crescent City is designed to resemble a torch.

The Crescent Place consists of 3 underground levels and 32 above ground levels: a 5-storey podium, 2 levels of townhouses and a 25-storey residential tower with 2 additional penthouse levels. The Crescent Place will be located onshore next to the tower of The Crescent City. This 170 meter high residential building will contain 168 apartments.{{cite web|url=http://www.thorntontomasetti.com/news/spotlight/181-crescent_place|title=Project Update: Crescent Place|work=thorntontomasetti.com|accessdate=16 January 2015}} The total area of the Crescent Place is 273 000 m², with space for approximately 100 retail outlets and an additional 40 food and beverage units.

According to a report published by the management company, as of November 2013, almost all of the piling for the project had been completed. Nine percent of the total project had been constructed. Ten percent of the coastal portion of the project had been completed.{{cite web|url=http://www.slideshare.net/AECOM/baku-signatures-on-the-skyline|title=Baku - signatures on the skyline|author=AECOM|work=slideshare.net|accessdate=16 January 2015}}

In July 2015, DSA Architects International was appointed to provide multidisciplinary lead design services for the Crescent Development Project, with construction underway.

The site for The Crescent Hotel is located in an area of the Caspian Sea. In May 2012, sheet piling began. These piles were installed in two rows around the perimeter of the future hotel site.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} A double metal fence was then installed around the site to restrict any additional water entering the area.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} Once the fence was completed, the water was pumped from the site and filled with sand to create the foundation for the building.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} As of early 2013, the soil creating the artificial island has been formed, and the foundations for the west and east towers have been completed.[http://www.lotos.com.az/en/read/120.html New stage of works at “Crescent” area] The piles constructed for The Crescent Hotel, with a diameter of 1500-2000 mm and a length of 76.1 metere, are the largest ever constructed in Azerbaijan. It was planned to construct 464 piles by the end of 2013.[http://www.lotos.com.az/en/read/118.html Lotos.com.az][http://www.lotos.com.az/en/read/113.html Lotos.com.az]

By the beginning of 2015, development of the East and West Towers had begun on the artificial island.

Due to the complex geometry of the building, a number of contractors from around the world were involved in the construction. Many of them faced challenges in achieving their objectives. For example, Derby Design Engineering said that the main challenge was to design a constructible solution for the connecting bridge between the column-like towers. This arch has a span of 90 meters and supports 5 hotel floors which are suspended from the link-bridge truss.{{Cite web|url= http://derbyde.ae/work/crescent-development-offshore-structures/|title= CRESCENT DEVELOPMENT – OFFSHORE STRUCTURES LA LUNA HOTEL|author=Derby Design }} According to the Koltay Facades website, the curved sides of the hotel present an exciting challenge for engineers and designers; from floor to floor, the inclination of the glass changes, and so do the components of the reaction forces on the slab, the appearance of the glass, the safety requirements amongst the others.{{Cite web|url= https://koltayfacades.com/projects/crescent-baku|title= Crescent Baku|author= Koltay Facades}}

Construction of the onshore foundations began in October 2009. For all parts of the shoreline (The Crescent City and The Crescent Place sites), 691 short piles with a diameter of 1.2m and a depth of 26m were installed

.[http://www.lotos.com.az/ru/read/102.html Lotos.com.az: Completion work on short piles]

For The Crescent City tower, 118 deep piles (diameter 1500 mm, depth of 52-61,5 meters) were constructed.[http://www.lotos.com.az/en/read/103.html Lotos.com.az][http://1news.az/economy/20130305115519437.html: Malaysian company intends to participate in the project Crescent City in Baku]

By November 2013, 4 taps had been installed at The Crescent Place site. The first floors of the podium were visible above the fence. Construction of The Crescent Place residential tower had begun.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} By early 2015, the 16th to 17th floors of The Crescent City Tower were under construction.

By March 2014, the foundation of The Crescent City Tower was ready for concrete core pouring.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} By early 2015, the Crescent City Tower was being constructed on 16-17 floors. In August 2015, the concrete core of the building reached the 30th level. In December 2015, the final 43rd floor of Crescent City's concrete core was completed.

According to a spokesperson for Ilk Construction, completion of the shell and core of The Crescent Place is scheduled for January 2015; the site for The Crescent City must be completed by May of the same year. Completion of the entire project was scheduled for the second half of 2017, but as of February 2019, technical difficulties have prevented completion of the arch section that will eventually connect the two towers. The completion date is currently estimated at the end of 2020.(Update) The completion date is unknown.[http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/complex/1373 Skyscraper City]

File:Crescent site 01.08.2012.jpg|Construction site (01.08.2012): The fenced-off area of the sea designated for The Crescent Hotel could be seen; piling work was underway for the onshore part of the project

File:Crescent cite 17.08.2012.jpg|Construction site (17.08.2012): Offshore site was filled with sand in order to create artificial island

File:Crescent site 01.03.2013.jpg|Construction site (01.03.2013): An island had been created, pile testing started on it; piling work for the onshore part was completed

File:Crescent site 30.04.2013.jpg|Construction site (30.04.2013): Start of piling on the island; onshore section ready for construction of podium

File:The Crescent 18 March 2014.jpg|Construction site (18.03.2014): Podium, Crescent Place concrete core rising, car park

File:The Crescent Hotel Piles.jpg|Completion of piling works for The Crescent Hotel on artificial island (18.03.2014)

File:CR1.jpg|February 2015: General view of the project, Crescent Place topped out, Crescent City built on 18-19 levels, first floors of The Crescent Hotel's towers built on the island

File:Crescent 2.jpg|February 2015: The Crescent City and the Crescent Hotel

File:Crescent Baku (2).jpg|March 2015: View of The Crescent Place and the Crescent Hotel

File:Crescent Hotel Baku.jpg|March 2015: Construction of The Crescent Hotel

{{reflist|33em}}

• [http://www.heerim.com/#/works/geographics Heerim Architects & Planners]
• [http://www.gilanholding.com/draft/crescent-hotel.php GilanHolding.com]
• [http://www.dsa-arch.com www.dsa-arch.com]
• [http://www.thorntontomasetti.com/news/spotlight/181-crescent_place ThorntonTomasetti.com]
• [http://www.lotos.com.az/en/read/111.html Lotos.com]
• [http://www.ilkconstruction.com/Posts.aspx?PostID=326 ilkconstruction.com]
• [http://www.azae.az AZ Architecture & Engineering Developments (AZ A&E)]
• {{cite web|url= http://www.georgiosp.com/The-Crescent-Hotel|title= G/P: Parametric Structure of the Crescent Hotel|author=Georgios Papadogeorgakis |date=|work= georgiosp.com|publisher=|accessdate=2015-01-08|language=|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108194233/http://www.georgiosp.com/The-Crescent-Hotel|archivedate=2015-01-08}} [http://www.peeep.us/ac8f526b Alt URL]
• [http://archiloverz.org/69-caspian-plus-baku-azerbaijan.html Archiloverz.org]
• [https://www.dbestlifestyle.com/a-new-skyscraper-of-dubai-crescent-moon-tower/ Inside Pictures of Crescent Moon Tower Dubai]
• {{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AXuMq0cfn4|title= Crescent Bay Baku (video on Youtube)|author= URBN Limited |date=|language=en}}

{{coord|40|22|26|N|49|51|33|E|region:AZ_type:landmark_source:kolossus-ruwiki|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crescent Development project}}

Category:Buildings and structures under construction in Azerbaijan

Category:Skyscrapers in Azerbaijan

Category:Buildings and structures in Baku

Category:Skyscraper hotels

Category:Skyscraper office buildings

Category:Residential skyscrapers

Category:Retail buildings in Azerbaijan