On February 26, 1979, the city of Dubai unveiled what was then the tallest building in the region – and with it, its soaring ambition as a global commercial hub. Originally called Sheikh Rashid Tower, it stood 149 metres tall, rising in splendid isolation above the surrounding desert.
Helping to mark its arrival was Queen Elizabeth II who was on her first state visit to the UAE. The British queen arrived in a Rolls-Royce at the foot of the tower, accompanied by Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, then ruler of Dubai. Streets were lined with people cheering and holding up portraits of her and Sheikh Rashid.
The queen then cut a ribbon and went to the top of the tower to gaze out at the desert view, accompanied by Sheikh Rashid and John Harris, the building's British architect.
Harris, who was central to the emirate’s early planning, was commissioned by Sheikh Rashid to design the tower, which was eventually named the Dubai World Trade Centre.
“When Sheikh Rashid decided to pursue the World Trade Centre in either 1973 or 1974, a collection of buildings that would include an exhibition hall, a Hilton Hotel, and a 39-storey office tower known as Rashid Tower, he confounded all of his advisers, who criticised both the size and the location of the project,” wrote architect and historian Todd Reisz in a catalogue produced for the UAE pavilion at the 2014 International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale.
“More than four kilometres from Dubai Creek, it promised trade where there was none to be found.” The catalogue supported pavilion exhibition, Lest We Forget: Structures of Memory in the UAE.
Construction took seven years, with Harris travelling to the US to look at New York's World Trade Centre project.
Wrapped in concrete, the tower is modernist in style, with recessed windows and a hive-like exterior to avoid exposure to the harsh sunlight. Traditional local motifs are incorporated into the design, including arches on the building’s exterior.
Built beside the motorway, which connects Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and came to be called Sheikh Zayed Road, the hope was that the tower would act as a catalyst for growth.
“In those days it was felt to be in the middle of nowhere, and that people would be unlikely to move their offices there because it was too far from Deira and Bur Dubai, where the real action was,” Guy Guillemard, the centre's first employee, told The National in 2012.
“Initially it seemed bizarre to be building such a tall structure in an area of no density, let alone low density,” Guillemard added. “There were almost no other buildings around it. But I bow to the recognition by Al Maktoum family of the power of symbols, and I think the tower was a symbol of international standing and intentions.
“Also, it was great to provide a viewing point. It was the place where people would bring their visiting chairman, and that sort of thing, and take a look at the emerging city.”
The tower's first tenant was BP. Others who took space in the early years included Ernst & Young, IBM and Amro bank.
The Dubai World Trade Centre has expanded to become a sprawling complex of exhibition halls and mixed-use buildings. The tower was the tallest building in the Arab world until the completion of Burj Al Arab 20 years later. Today, it is dwarfed by the towering buildings flanking Sheikh Zayed Road, one of the country's busiest thoroughfares.
The building's importance to the UAE's history was recognised by its presence on the old Dh100 banknote.
