The YAS Hotel in Abu Dhabi - F1 Racing and a Light Show too

The YAS hotel in Abu Dhabi is not only a 500 room luxury hotel and the world's largest LED light show but it also has a Formula 1 track that passes right through the middle. This amazing building is part of a $36B (yes billion) complex that we have blogged about here before. Alice first introduced us to this here and last week I showed you the yacht club here. The hotel was designed by asymptote architecture from New York. The building is covered by a a 217-meter shell constructed of steel and 5,800 pivoting diamond-shaped glass panels.

The panels contain over 5000 LEDs that are computer controlled. This allows the building to actually "perform" as the video below shows.

As if that was not enough, the building sits adjacent to the new Formula 1 racetrack. But not just adjacent: the track passes right through the hotel! Viewing the race from the enclosed walkway must be truly awesome. This ain't NASCAR that's for sure.

Here's a video of a test run on the track. You can see the car pass through the hotel at about 2:20.

If you'd like to make a reservation the hotel's website is here.

Tags: architecture

Add a Comment

You need to be a member of My Modern Metropolis to add comments!

Join My Modern Metropolis

Comment by sAm on January 17, 2010 at 1:04am: The lights are amazing, but 35 billion? Holy cow!

Comment by Kevin on January 16, 2010 at 3:04pm: Things you don't expect to hear at a hotel "I'd prefer a room as far away from the pits as possible".

Comment by Speedo on January 16, 2010 at 12:17pm: Dullest track ever, it should be converted into a $1.99 go-kart joy ride instead.

Comment by Martin on January 16, 2010 at 8:02am: You know that guy who drew an enormous phallus on the roof of his parents' house, so that it could be seen on Google Earth? Well, judging by the first image, I can't help thinking that this might look similarly comical from above. Is it just me?