The under-construction Icon Tower is seen at Qetaifan Island North’s Water Park. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Qetaifan Island North’s 85m “Icon Tower”, which is said to be the world’s highest tower of its kind, is vying for two Guinness World Records – tallest water slide and with most water slides from a single tower – according to an official.
Speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of a media site tour at the island project recently, Eng. Mustafa Al Cherkawi, Construction Engineer at Qetaifan Projects said the Icon Tower’s concrete structure has been completed, and teams from the US, Canada, and Netherlands are currently installing its loops. Once the loops have progressed, a team from the Guinness World Records will come to Qatar to start assessing the tower.
Officials from Qetaifan Projects are confident that Qatar’s “Icon Tower” will soon set the two world records, which will further boost the country’s tourism and entertainment sectors. Al Cherkawi added: “We are working hard to get these records. And we did our assessments, our research and our homework, and hopefully we’ll get these two world records before the World Cup. We are now in contact with Guinness World Records and many exchanges of documentations are ongoing. Once we progress in the loops, they will come and start assessing”.
Spread across a 250,000 sqm area, the Water Park is one of the most anticipated attractions at Qetaifan Island North, which is expected to receive visitors from the third quarter of 2022.
Al Cherkawi said about 60 percent of the Water Park has now been completed. Once fully operational, the Water Park is expected to receive about 6,500 daily visitors, he added.
All the rides within the water park are inspired by the Qatari culture, complementing the theme of the oil and gas industry. The Icon Tower, which will be a distinct zone in the water park, is located on a small island and linked to the Qetaifan Island North with an overwater bridge. Visitors can reach the Icon Tower with a train that passes by the bridge.
“When we compare this to other water parks in the Middle East or even global water parks, this is a really big attraction and a big achievement for Qatar. And we are pretty sure we have very unique and special attractions, which won’t be found anywhere else,” said Al Cherkawi.
Speaking about the Icon Tower’s features, he said the tower will have a total of 12 rides, with two rides from each of its six different levels.
“We also have the Icon Island Restaurant as well. At the top of the tower, people will not only have a privilege to enjoy the slides or the challenges, but will also enjoy the scenic view. From the top level of the Icon Tower, you can view the skyline of Doha, Lusail City including the Lusail stadium and plaza towers, as well as the Porto Arabia and the West Bay. We’re currently installing the fiber glass, loops of the icon tower. So after five or six months, we will start to see a more congested Icon Tower,” added Al Cherkawi.
Aside from the Icon Tower, Qetaifan Island North’s world-class Water Park will also feature other attractions including the 66 slides, which are currently under installation. The water park will also feature 21 towers, 26 buildings, 15 pools, 45 cabanas, four food and beverage outlets, in addition to five train stations. About 2,000 workers are currently involved in the construction of the water park.
“Some of the slides have already been completed. We also have another custom-made attraction, the slide wheel, which is one of the only three that currently exist in the world. Many of the rides are very unique and have been built only for this water park,” Al Cherkawi said.
He added: “There is also a private beach here, and all the visitors will have the privilege to use the beach. This is not possible in other water parks. We have 45 cavanas, and visitors can rent these cavanas for different occasions. There are also different food and beverage restaurants. We’ll have the Icon Island Restaurant, an Italian restaurant, wave pool drinks station, and beach drinks station. We’ll also have the entrance complex with ticketing building, change rooms, and toilets. People will have a choice to either walk or use the train to stop at different attractions”.
