Meezan Tower Islamabad

Project Overview

In the heart of Islamabad's Blue Area, Meezan Tower Islamabad sets a benchmark for high-performance, resource-efficient building in Pakistan's banking sector. Developed under the leadership of Meezan Bank, one of the country's leading Islamic banks, the tower stands among the first corporate banking sector buildings in Pakistan to achieve LEED® Gold in the Core and Shell category, the certification path that covers a building's structure, envelope, and central systems. SIDEworks is proud to have guided the project as its sustainability and LEED certification consultant, from early studies through to final certification.

Rising over the city with a distinctive sculpted glass facade, the 188,213 square foot tower was designed from the outset around the careful use of energy, water, and resources. These choices are built into the core of the building itself, its structure, envelope, and central systems, rather than added on afterwards, so its performance is built to last.

Water is where the tower performs hardest. Efficient fixtures cut indoor water use by around half compared with a typical building, and the landscaping is planted to thrive with no permanent watering at all. Rainwater is captured and stored on site and put to work in and around the building instead of running off into the drains.

The tower is designed to use less energy than a conventional building of its size, with lighting that is fully LED throughout, and its central systems were independently tested and tuned to make sure they perform as intended, a process known as commissioning. Reflective and shaded surfaces keep the building and its surroundings cooler, easing the heat that hard city surfaces usually trap. And the location does quiet, powerful work: sitting in a dense, well-connected part of the city close to public transport, everyday amenities, and cycling facilities, the tower makes it easy to arrive without a car, helped along by a reduced parking footprint and charging points for electric vehicles.

Inside, enhanced fresh air and indoor air quality strategies make for a healthier working day. And because this is a core and shell building, sustainability does not stop at the front door: guidelines for future tenant spaces are written into the project, so the same standards carry through each floor as the tower fills. The LEED Gold certification is the formal recognition of all this work, the outcome of many deliberate choices made by the client and the project team from the first day of design. The result is a landmark tower that performs for the bank that owns it, the people who use it, and the city around it, while standing at the same environmental benchmark as leading green buildings anywhere in the world.

Project Gallery

Images: Meezan Bank Limited; Najmi Bilgrami Collaborative

Key Achievements

• LEED Gold certified
• Among the first corporate banking sector buildings in Pakistan to achieve LEED Gold in the Core and Shell category
• A highly connected location with strong public transport access and cycling facilities
• Around half the indoor water of a typical building
• No permanent irrigation
• Rainwater captured and managed on site
• Designed to use less energy, with fully LED lighting
• Reduced parking, with electric vehicle charging
• A cooler building and surroundings through reflective and shaded surfaces
• Enhanced indoor air quality for a healthier workplace

Sustainability Strategy

Earning LEED Gold is never about a single feature. It comes from many deliberate choices working together, and at Meezan Tower those choices span location, water, energy, materials, and the daily experience of the people inside.

Location does a lot of the work. The tower sits in a dense, well-served part of Islamabad, close to public transport and a wide range of nearby amenities, with facilities for cyclists as well. A design like this reduces the need to drive, which cuts traffic and emissions before anyone even steps inside.

Water is treated as the precious resource it is. Efficient fixtures throughout the building cut indoor water use significantly, and the landscaping is designed to thrive without any permanent irrigation, so no drinking water is wasted on keeping plants alive. Rainwater is captured and managed on site, easing the load on the city's drains and putting a free resource to good use.

The building is designed to use less energy than a conventional tower of its size, which means lower running costs and a smaller carbon footprint over time, a real step toward decarbonization. Lighting is fully LED throughout, and the building's core systems were independently checked and tuned to make sure they perform as intended, a process known as commissioning.

The design also keeps the building and its surroundings cooler, using reflective and shaded surfaces to reduce the heat that hard city surfaces usually trap. A reduced parking footprint and charging for electric vehicles encourage cleaner ways to travel. And inside, enhanced attention to ventilation and fresh air creates a healthier, more comfortable environment for the people who work there.

Together, these measures are what earned Meezan Tower its LEED Gold rating, and what make it a building designed to perform well for the people who use it, the bank that owns it, and the city around it.

SIDEworks Scope

SIDEworks served as the project's sustainability and LEED certification consultant. Our work spanned value engineering, energy modeling, commissioning management, and overall sustainability strategy, supporting the tower from concept through to certification.

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