Horizon Tower

Forty-five storeys and 162 residences in Dubai Marina, handed over in 2006. One of the few first-wave towers whose exact unit count is on record.

What it is

Horizon Tower is a 45-storey, 162-residence building in Dubai Marina, completed in 2006 by Gulf General Investments Company. The architect is Arenco Architectural & Engineering.

162 apartments over 45 storeys works out to under four per floor. By Marina standards that's spacious, closer to the density of a prewar Manhattan apartment building than to a typical Gulf investment tower — next-door Silverene packs 598 residences into 35 storeys.

The 2006 generation

The tower belongs to the district's first development wave. It's fourth-tallest in its generation, and one of only four in that wave where the building record lists an exact residence count.

Units per floor — a number worth calculating

Divide the residence count by the storey count and a building's character becomes clear before you ever view it. Horizon Tower comes out under four apartments per floor, Marina Tower comes out at six, and Yacht Bay — 174 apartments over eighteen storeys — comes out at nearly ten.

Fewer units per floor means larger layouts, fewer neighbours sharing a landing and less load on the elevators. More units per floor means a cheaper entry price and a denser pool of tenants.

Neither is better on its own: a dense building suits renting out, a spacious one suits living in and holding value. But knowing the number before a viewing tells you more than the storey count does.

propsearch building record: 45 storeys, 162 residences, handed over 2006, developer Gulf General Investments Company, architect Arenco. The units-per-floor calculation and the 2006–2007 generation table are drawn from Dubai Marina tower records.