Several unique-looking buildings are coming up in Qatar over the next few years at the sprawling Lusail City.

The under-construction site north of Doha aims to eventually house 200,000 residents on four purpose-built islands and in 19 multi-purpose districts.

One recently completed project is a set of new 32-story office buildings called the Marina Twin Towers.

The cubes in the new colorful buildings are deliberately stacked unevenly for visual effect, and are in some ways reminiscent of Qatar’s Zig Zag Towers near Lagoona Mall.

According to agents Gold Bay, the towers were inspired by “the traditional architectural design in Qatar, the cube.”

It added that the different colors reflect “the mixture of civilizations in the State of Qatar.”

Other projects

On its website, Gold Bay also lists two other upcoming buildings in Lusail:

The first is Mansour Gate, a $294 million development that’s to be built in Lusail’s Energy City, which will headquarter international oil and gas firms.

When completed, Al Mansour Gate will spread over an area of 35,000 square meters and include a compound of four commercial offices and retail buildings, as well as an independent boutique hotel.

There’s also Cubes Tower.

This upcoming 22-floor waterfront residential building is set to be located northeast of Lusail’s Fox Hills neighborhood.

The property contains seven luxury apartments on each floor, and penthouses on the top two floors.

All three buildings – Marina Twin Towers, Al Mansour Gate and Cubes Tower – have been designed by Lebanese firm E Square Architects.

Another building that’s been generating some buzz is the distinctive crossed-swords Katara Towers.

Situated in Marina City, the luxury hotel will include apartments, restaurants and entertainment and recreational facilities.

It was originally expected to be built by 2016, but the opening has now been pushed back to 2020, according to Katara Hospitality’s website.

Lusail’s development

Lusail City was first conceived over a decade ago, but work on it has been slow, with some real estate experts attributing delays to lukewarm demand.

Still, construction is ramping up as the city prepares to host the opening and closing games of the 2022 World Cup.

Contractors for the stadium were appointed in November. And the official design is expected to be revealed early this year.

The project is slated to be completed by 2020.

Thoughts?