Tammy Camp

Dubai Unveils the World’s Tallest Tower – Burj Khalifa

Posted on 05. Jan, 2010 by Tammy Camp in Adventure Travel, Dubai, International, International News

It’s official, Burj Dubai is now “Burj Khalifa”, the world’s tallest tower. The height of the tower, kept top secret until now, was announced as 828 meters (2,716.5 ft).

The world's tallest tower, 'Burj Khalifa' is 828 metres (2,716.5 ft) high.

The Burj Khalifa, developed by Emaar Properties, was unveiled on the evening of January 4th, 2010. Thousands of people present, and viewers around the world, were treated to an extravagant show of fireworks, lasers, and fountain displays.

Burj Khalifa is now the tallest building in the world, according to the three main criteria of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). The CTBUH ranks the world’s tallest buildings based on ‘Height to Architectural Top,’ ‘Height to Highest Occupied Floor’ and ‘Height to Tip.’

At 828 metres (2,716.5ft), Burj Khalifa is 320 metres taller than Taipei 101, which stands at 508 metres (1,667 ft). Taipei 101 had held the record for the world’s tallest building measured to the architectural top since 2004, the year the project was announced.

Burj Khalifa also achieved the distinction of being the world’s tallest structure – surpassing the KVLY-TV mast (628.8 metres; 2,063 ft) in North Dakota, USA – 1,325 days after excavation work started in January 2004.

The tower also beats the 31-year-old record of CN Tower, at 553.33 metres (1,815.5 ft) which had been the world’s tallest free-standing structure on land since 1976.

Burj Khalifa Opening Ceremony

Burj Khalifa includes a record-breaking 330,000 cubic metres of concrete, 39,000 metric tonnes of steel rebar, and 142,000 square metres of glass; it took 22 million man hours in all to build.

Other world records for Burj Khalifa include the highest occupied floor in the world, at over 550 metres (1,800 ft); the highest outdoor observation deck in the world, At the Top on Level 124; and the tallest service elevator, which travels to a height of 504 metres (1,654 ft).

Mr. Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties, said that with the unveiling of the final height of Burj Khalifa, the world now had a new reference point for high-rise developments:

“Burj Khalifa is an example of collaboration on a global scale, and the tremendous positive energy that can be generated when people from all over the world come together to work towards a common goal. Thousands of professionals and skilled workers from around the world worked on this once-in-a-lifetime project.”

“More than 60 of the world’s leading consultants including South Korea’s Samsung Corporation and New York-based Turner Construction International realised the design for Burj Khalifa of Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM).”

Emaar Properties employed the latest advances in wind engineering, structural engineering, structural systems, construction materials and methods building Burj Khalifa. All design plans took into account the 12,000 people who will live and work in the tower. The handover to residents of the various components of Burj Khalifa will begin in February.

With a total built-up area of about 6 million sq ft, Burj Khalifa features nearly 2 million sq ft of residential space and over 300,000 sq ft of prime office space, in addition to the area occupied by the highly-anticipated Armani Hotel Dubai and the Armani Residences. The tower also features modern lifestyle amenities including clubs, health and fitness facilities, gourmet restaurants, and the 124th floor observation deck, ‘At the Top.’

Burj Khalifa is the focal point of the 500-acre ‘mega-project’ by Emaar Properties, described as the new heart of Dubai.

Burj Khalifa Details

Photos from the Top of Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa Inauguration Photos and Firework Show

Impressive, sure, Burj Khalifa is a modern marvel. The way it was unveiled will remain spectacular, and the records it set won’t soon be eclipsed. But like all achievements, there’s more to the story. Dubai basically got bailed-out by Abu Dhabi a few months ago… and now they roll out a world-leading, billion-dollar project.

What do you think? Is this an example of a worthy project, occurring at an unfortunate financial time? Or is it more sinister — like Wall Street executives taking bonuses from bailout money, or car manufacturing CEO’s taking private jets to their bailout hearings?

Tags: Burj Dubai, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, International News, World's Tallest Tower