The Bahrain World Trade Centre (BWTC) is the first successful large scale implementation of wind turbines into a building. It is a 240 metre (787 ft) high twin tower complex located in Manama and was built by the multi-national architectural firm Atkins.

The two towers are linked via three skybridges each holing a 25 Kw wind turbine, totalling 675 Kw of wind production. Each of the turbines measures 29 metres (95 ft) in diameter and is aligned north, which is the direction from which the air from the Persian Gulf blows. The sail shaped building on either side are designed to funnel wind through the gap to provide accelerated wind passing through the turbines. They are expected to provide 11 to 15 percent of the towers total power consumption or approximately 1.1 to 1.3 GWh a year. The turbines operate 50 percent of the time in an average day.

In 2009 the wind turbines won the NOVA Innovation Award. The Award, initiated by the Construction Innovation Forum is a distinction that focuses on innovations that have made major contributions to the construction industry. The Atkins design beat another 640 entries and added the NOVA award to its other two prizes – the 2006 LEAF Award for the Best Use of Technology within a Large Scheme and the Arab Construction World for Sustainable Design Award.

The BWTC is the Kingdom’s first truly intelligent building. More than a landmark, each of its towers offers 34 storeys of lettable high specification office space, incorporating a fully integrated IT infrastructure operating the building management, parking, security and IT network systems. Also each tower provides state-of-the-art office accommodation with impressive double height entrance lobby, high speed passenger lifts and balconies on every floor. It also contains the most exclusive shopping mall in Bahrain.

The Trade Centre also incorporates a large number of sustainable features that make it environmentally responsive in reducing carbon emissions. The deep gravel roofs in some locations provide kinetic insulation while balconies to the sloping elevators with overhangs provide shading. There is also recycling, thermal insulation, reflection pools for evaporative cooling, low leakage windows and thermal glass with a low solar gain.

There is little doubt that the Bahrain World Trade Centre sets a precedent that the wind turbine integration is possible in a built environment. It places environmental design on the forefront of clients and designers agendas in a highly visual way and hopefully helps initiate more energy conscious developments worldwide. The costs of the wind turbine technology is not prohibitive and this project sets a benchmark for other projects.