7 November 2009
The apartment block known to residents as ‘Toyota Tower’ is a relic of a time in Dubai when buildings were low-rise, and Shaikh Zayed Road was a 3km single carriage way.
It sits, as it has for over 30 years, at the 1st interchange — an area which is now undergoing rapid change with the creation of the Downtown Burj Dubai district.
The furious pace of destruction and renewal in the surrounding area has led many to question the long-term future of the building.
“To be honest, I’m surprised it’s still standing,” said Yasser Elsheshtawy, associate professor of architecture at UAE University. “It’s really rundown.”
Toyota Tower may now be dwarfed by the 160-storey Burj Dubai, but it was once the tallest building on the horizon at 15 floors.
During the 1970s and 80s, the building was used to accommodate government workers. Its original name was Nasser Rashid Lootah Building, but few use that name today.
Although the building was once a landmark, it has not featured heavily in the redevelopment of the interchange.
Indeed, the mass of road works on the Defence Roundabout now make even driving up to the building a headache.
“At the moment it’s quite a problem,” said Joy Ilan, managing director of Future Focus, a recruitment consultancy on the third floor of Toyota Tower.
“Whenever anyone comes to the office, there are a lot of complex directions that we have to give them to make sure they don’t take a wrong turn,” he said.
However, there are few signs that the building will be knocked down in the immediate future.
According to Peyman Younes Parham, director of marketing and corporate communications at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai, the building will not be immediately affected by the infrastructure development.
“It’s not in our plan to remove this building,” he said. “Every building has its lifespan, but this one is privately owned and it will be demolished at the owner’s discretion.”
Veeru Taman, who works in the real estate division of Nasser Rashid Lootah Group, said there were no immediate plans to demolish the building.
Toyota Tower is populated by an almost equal mix of commercial and residential apartments, although the building is reminiscent of an East London sink estate.
The walls of the inside of the building are invariably covered in the patina of age and the drab tone of the corridors is only lifted by a handful of residents who decorate the exterior of their flats with Hindu murals. Many residents tell others of their apartment number by writing it on the wall outside in black biro — with an arrow pointing to the door.
On the roof, an unbroken line of satellite dishes covers the circumference of the building like pigeons on a washing line.
“This isn’t the nicest place to live, but it’s cheap,” said Manuel, a Filipino living in B block of the building.
Nearby, a bowling alley called ‘Thunderbowl’ — another relic from the 90s Dubai — sits in a state of partial demolition: its windows smashed and furniture strewn across the car park.
A worker on the nearby infrastructure development sits in what was once the lobby of the bowling alley, sheltering from the afternoon sun.
“This building has been abandoned for ages,” he said. “One day they will knock it down, but nothing is being done about it now.”
Multi-coloured graffiti are emblazoned on the side of the once popular recreational hub. One slogan, written in blue, reads: “It’s a never ending story. No one can stop it.”
