Monday 11 June 2012

HAMRA TOWER AND MALL

On Saturday late afternoon, we paid a visit to the famed and much talked about Hamra Tower in Sharq. The Hamra Mall housed within the tower is open to the public, but the place is quite empty, with just a very few shops and restaurants opened for now.  It would take a few months before all the shops would be open. Remember two years ago, when 360 Mall first opened - how empty it looked and now its bustling with shops, people and activity! Be patient, same goes for Hamra Mall.

The place doesn't look like anything I remember from my childhood. Time, economic boom and progress has made a huge change in the infrastructure of the city in the last 25 to 30 years. Somewhere in that place stood the Hamra theater and Firdous theater I frequented with my parents when I was a child. Among so many other wonderful memories, these theaters and surrounding shops would only remain a beautiful memory in my heart.

The grand  Hamra tower is 412.6 m tall (1,354 feet). Its believed to be the tallest 'sculpted tower' in the world, with  5 story retail mall,  food court, 10 screen movie theater complex, 70 floors of office space, roof top restaurant, spa and 11 story carpark. Hamra Tower is designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. 

Well, you don't have to wait for the next few months until all the shops open in the Mall. Visit the Hamra and explore the place, you can take a nice walk with your family or friends, drop into the few shops that are open or relax and have some coffee at one of the coffee shops. 







 

Hamra tower at night

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