The design’s distinctive feature, its spherical shape, accomplishes much more than simply creating an iconic structure alongside the road connecting the airport to the city centre. By stacking the hotel and residential functions on top of the arena itself, the design accommodates a significant amount of programme on a relatively small site. By making the building rounded, it avoids creating any “rear” façades that neglect the surrounding neighbourhood. By tapering inwards towards the building’s base, it creates more space for public plazas and outdoor sports facilities that can be used by local children. And by tapering inward at the top, it creates terraces for the building’s residents.

The oculus could be closed with a thick layer of glass to form a soundproof barrier while maintaining a visual connection between the upper and lower volumes. Above this level, apartments are contained within the sphere’s double-shell structure, forming a colossal semi-outdoor domed space on the interior – almost a mirror of the bowl-shaped arena. This space becomes a courtyard garden for residents, with mature trees and furniture for relaxing. In a number of places, the dome of apartments gives way to three- and four-storey rectangular holes punched through the building’s shell, allowing natural ventilation and creating additional communal green spaces for residences, each with its own theme.