Cube of towers: Opus by Zaha Hadid Architects

Consisting of two separate glazed towers that merge to form a block, Opus Hotel is one of the four projects by Zaha Hadid Architects in the running for the 2019 World Architecture Festival's WAF awards. The design for the building in Dubai's Burj Khalifa District was unveiled by Zaha Hadid back in 2009.

An organically formed, eight-storey void stands out within the rectilinear cubic geometry as the focal point of the merged towers, at the same time offering views to the exterior from the centre of the building. The 93-metre-high, 20-storey structure expresses a sculptural sensibility that "reinvents the balance between solid and void, opaque and transparent, interior and exterior", as Mahdi Amjad, Executive Chairman and CEO of Omniyat, states.

Both towers are connected by a four-storey atrium at ground level and an asymmetric, three-storey skyway at a height of 71 metres. The building, which is being erected as the Dubai hotel of the 'ME by Melià' chain, will be opening in 2020 complete with 12 restaurants, a rooftop bar and 56,000 square feet of office space.