The Burj Khalifa (; ar, برج خليفة, , Khalifa Tower), known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010, is a skyscraper in
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
. It is known for being the world’s tallest building. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, or just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding antenna, but including a 242.6 m spire
) of , the Burj Khalifa has been the
tallest structure and building in the world since its
topping out
In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlaye ...
in 2009, supplanting
Taipei 101
Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...
, the previous holder of that status.
Construction of the Burj Khalifa began in 2004, with the exterior completed five years later in 2009. The primary structure is
reinforced concrete and some of the
structural steel for the building originated from the
Palace of the Republic in
East Berlin, the former
East German
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
.
The building was opened in 2010 as part of a new development called
Downtown Dubai
Downtown Dubai or The Dubai Downtown, is a large-scale, mixed-use complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Dubai Downtown was created by the Emaar Real Estate Development Company. Before 2000, the place was called Umm Al Tarif. It is home to so ...
. It was designed to be the centerpiece of large-scale, mixed-use development. The decision to construct the building was based on the government's decision to diversify from an oil-based economy, and for Dubai to gain international recognition. The building is named in honor of the former president of the United Arab Emirates,
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar, خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; 7 September 1948 – 13 May 2022) was the second president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, serving from ...
.
Abu Dhabi and the UAE government lent Dubai money to pay its debts. The building broke numerous height records, including its designation as the tallest building in the world.
Burj Khalifa was designed by a team led by
Adrian Smith
Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio.
Smith grew up in London ...
of
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the firm that designed the
Sears Tower
The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM ...
in Chicago, a previous record holder for the world's tallest building.
Hyder Consulting
Hyder Consulting was a multi-national advisory and design consultancy with particular specialisation in the transport, property, utilities and environmental sectors. The firm employed approximately 4,200 people across the UK, Europe, Germany, Midd ...
was chosen to be the supervising engineer with NORR Group Consultants International Limited chosen to supervise the architecture of the project. The design is derived from the Islamic architecture of the region, such as in the
Great Mosque of Samarra
, native_name_lang = ara
, image = Samara_spiralovity_minaret_rijen1973.jpg
, image_upright = 1.4
, alt =
, caption = The #Minaret, spiral minaret of the mosque
, map_type ...
. The Y-shaped tripartite floor geometry is designed to optimize residential and hotel space. A
buttressed central core and wings are used to support the height of the building. Although this design was derived from
Tower Palace III, the Burj Khalifa's central core houses all vertical transportation except egress stairs within each of the wings.
The structure also features a cladding system which is designed to withstand Dubai's hot summer temperatures. It contains a total of 57 elevators and 8 escalators.
At a certain point in the architectural and engineering process, the original
Emaar
Emaar Properties (Emaar Developments or simply Emaar) is an Emirati multinational real estate development company located in the United Arab Emirates. It is a public joint-stock company, listed on the Dubai Financial Market, and has a valuation ...
developers experienced financial problems and required more money and economic funding.
Sheikh Khalifa
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar, خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; 7 September 1948 – 13 May 2022) was the second president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, serving from ...
, the then-ruler of the United Arab Emirates, granted monetary aid and funding, hence the changing of the name from "Burj Dubai" to "Burj Khalifa". The concept of profitability derived from building high-density developments and malls around the landmark has proven successful. Its surrounding malls, hotels, and condominiums in Downtown Dubai have generated the most revenue from the project as a whole, while the Burj Khalifa itself made little or no profit.
The critical reception of Burj Khalifa has been generally positive, and the building has received many awards. However, there were numerous complaints concerning migrant workers from
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
who were the primary building labour force. These centered on low wages and the practice of confiscating passports until duties were complete.
Development
Construction began on 12 January 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010
and is part of the
Downtown Dubai
Downtown Dubai or The Dubai Downtown, is a large-scale, mixed-use complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Dubai Downtown was created by the Emaar Real Estate Development Company. Before 2000, the place was called Umm Al Tarif. It is home to so ...
development at the 'First Interchange' along
Sheikh Zayed Road
E 11 ( ar, شارع ﺇ ١١) is a highway in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The longest road in the Emirates, it stretches from Al-Silah in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and ends in Ras al-Khaimah emirate, running roughly parallel to UAE's coastl ...
, near Dubai's main business district. The tower's architecture and engineering were performed by
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, with
Adrian Smith
Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio.
Smith grew up in London ...
as chief architect, and
Bill Baker as a chief structural engineer.
The primary contractor was
Samsung C&T
Samsung C&T Corporation ("Construction & Trading Corporation"; formerly Samsung Corporation; Korean: 삼성물산), is a South Korean construction and engineering company. It was founded in 1938 as the first Samsung company and was initially in ...
of
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
, together with local company
Arabtec
Arabtec Holding PJSC, was Dubai's most heavily traded and largest construction group in GCC, together with its subsidiaries, provided construction services for residential, commercial, oil and gas, infrastructure, power, facilities management, and ...
and the Belgian group
BESIX
BESIX Group is a construction group based in Brussels, one of the world's leading international contractors according to the ENR ranking. Active since 1909, BESIX operates in Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, Africa, North America and Asia.
Its a ...
.
Conception
Burj Khalifa was designed to be the centerpiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development to include 30,000 homes, nine hotels (including
The Address Downtown Dubai
The Address Downtown, ( ar, فندق العنوان داون تاون) formerly The Address Downtown Dubai, is a 63-story, supertall hotel and residential skyscraper in the Burj Dubai Development Area of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was b ...
), of parkland, at least 19 residential skyscrapers, the
Dubai Mall
The Dubai Mall ( ar, دبي مول "Dubai Mall") is a shopping mall in Dubai. It is the second largest mall in the world after the Iran Mall by total land area, and the 26th-largest shopping mall in the world by gross leasable area, tying with ...
, and the artificial Burj Khalifa Lake. The decision to build Burj Khalifa was reportedly based on the government's decision to diversify from an oil-based economy to one that is service and tourism based. According to officials, projects like Burj Khalifa needed to be built to garner more international recognition and hence investment. "He (Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, links=no; ; born 15 July 1949) is the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the ruler of Dubai ...
) wanted to put Dubai on the map with something really sensational," said Jacqui Josephson, a tourism and VIP delegations executive at
Nakheel Properties
Nakheel Properties ( ar, نَـخٍـيْـل, nakhīl, palm tree) is a property developer based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The formal name of the company is Nakheel PJSC (private joint stock company) and it was a subsidiary of Dubai World ...
. The tower was known as Burj Dubai ("Dubai Tower") until its official opening in January 2010.
It was renamed in honour of the ruler of
Abu Dhabi,
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar, خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; 7 September 1948 – 13 May 2022) was the second president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, serving from ...
; Abu Dhabi and the federal government of UAE lent Dubai tens of billions of US dollars so that Dubai could pay its debts – Dubai borrowed at least $80 billion for construction projects.
In the 2000s, Dubai started diversifying its economy but it suffered from an economic crisis in 2007–2010, leaving large-scale projects already in construction abandoned.
Records
The Burj Khalifa set several world records, including:
*Tallest existing structure: (previously
KVLY-TV mast
The KVLY-TV mast (formerly the KTHI-TV mast) is a television-transmitting mast in Blanchard, North Dakota. It is used by Fargo station KVLY-TV channel 11 and KXJB-LD's Argusville/ Valley City/ Mayville translator K28MA-D channel 28. Completed ...
– )
* Tallest structure ever built: (previously
Warsaw radio mast
The Warsaw Radio Mast (Polish: ''Maszt radiowy w Konstantynowie'') was a radio mast located near Gąbin, Poland, and the world's tallest structure at from 1974 until its collapse on 8 August 1991. Designed by Jan Polak, and one of the ...
– )
* Tallest freestanding structure: (previously
CN Tower
The CN Tower (french: Tour CN) is a concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built on the former Railway Lands, it was completed in 1976. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway c ...
– )
* Tallest skyscraper (to top of
spire
A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...
): (previously
Taipei 101
Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...
– )
* Tallest skyscraper to top of antenna: (previously the
Willis (formerly Sears) Tower – )
* Building with most floors: 163 (previously
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
– 110)
* World's highest
elevator
An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...
installation (situated inside a rod at the very top of the building)
* World's longest travel distance elevators:
* Highest vertical
concrete pump
A concrete pump is a machine used for transferring liquid concrete by pumping. There are different types of concrete pumps.
A common type of concrete pump for large scale construction projects is known as a boom concrete pump, because it uses ...
ing (for a building):
*
World's tallest structure
The world's tallest human-made structure is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (of the United Arab Emirates). The building gained the official title of "tallest building in the world" and the tallest self-supported structure at its opening on Januar ...
that includes residential space
* World's highest installation of an
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
and glass façade:
* World's highest
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
: 144th floor
* World's highest
restaurant (''At.mosphere''): 122nd floor at (previously ''360'', at a height of in CN Tower)
* World's highest
New Year
New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...
display of
fireworks
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...
.
* World's largest light and sound show staged on a single building.
History of height increases
![BurjKhalifaHeight](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/BurjKhalifaHeight.png)
There are unconfirmed reports of several planned height increases since its inception. Originally proposed as a virtual clone of the
Grollo Tower proposal for Melbourne, Australia's
Docklands waterfront development, the tower was redesigned by
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer John Merrill. The fir ...
.
Marshall Strabala
Jay Marshall Strabala is an American architect who has participated in the design of skyscrapers and other buildings. In 2010, Strabala founded 2DEFINE Architecture, an architectural firm, with three Chinese partners, though the partnership lat ...
, a Skidmore, Owings and Merrill architect who worked on the project until 2006, said in late 2008 that Burj Khalifa was designed to be tall.
The architect who designed it, Adrian Smith, felt that the uppermost section of the building did not culminate elegantly with the rest of the structure, so he sought and received approval to increase its height. It was stated that this change did not add any floors, which fit with Smith's attempts to make the crown more slender. The building opened on 4 January 2010.
Architecture and design
![Comparisonfinal001fx7](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Comparisonfinal001fx7.png)
The tower was designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM), which also designed the
Willis Tower
The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM ...
(formerly the Sears Tower) in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and the
One World Trade Center
One World Trade Center (also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Mer ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. Burj Khalifa uses the bundled
tube
Tube or tubes may refer to:
* ''Tube'' (2003 film), a 2003 Korean film
* ''The Tube'' (TV series), a music related TV series by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom
* "Tubes" (Peter Dale), performer on the Soccer AM television show
* Tube (band), a ...
design of the
Willis Tower
The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM ...
, invented by
Fazlur Rahman Khan
Fazlur Rahman Khan ( bn, ফজলুর রহমান খান, ''Fozlur Rôhman Khan''; 3 April 1929 – 27 March 1982) was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrape ...
.
Due to its tubular system, proportionally only half the amount of steel was used in the construction, compared to the
Empire State Building.
Khan's contributions to the design of tall buildings have had a profound impact on architecture and engineering. It would be difficult to find any worldwide practices in the design of tall buildings that have not been directly or indirectly influenced by his work. The design is reminiscent of
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
's vision for
The Illinois
The Mile-High Illinois, Illinois Sky City, or simply The Illinois is a visionary skyscraper that is proposed to be over high, conceived and described by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in his 1957 book, ''A Testament''. The design, intend ...
, a mile-high skyscraper designed for Chicago, as well as Chicago's
Lake Point Tower
Lake Point Tower is a residential skyscraper located on a promontory of the Lake Michigan waterfront in Chicago, just north of the Chicago River at 505 North Lake Shore Drive. Completed in 1968, it is in the Streeterville neighborhood on the N ...
. When
Adrian Smith
Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio.
Smith grew up in London ...
was conceiving the project at SOM, he looked out his office window toward Lake Point Tower's curved three-wing layout and thought, "There's the prototype". According to Strabala, Burj Khalifa was designed based on the 73 floor
Tower Palace Three, an all-residential building in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
. In its early planning, Burj Khalifa was intended to be entirely residential.
After the original design by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, Emaar Properties chose Hyder Consulting to be the supervising engineer and NORR Group Consultants International Ltd to supervise the architecture of the project.
Hyder was selected for their expertise in structural and
MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) engineering.
Hyder Consulting's role was to supervise construction, certify the architect's design, and be the engineer and architect of record to the UAE authorities.
NORR's role was the supervision of all architectural components including on-site supervision during the construction and design of a 6-story addition to the office annex building for architectural documentation. NORR was also responsible for the architectural integration drawings for the Armani Hotel included in the Tower. Emaar Properties also engaged
GHD,
an international multidisciplinary consulting firm, to act as an independent verification and testing authority for concrete and steelwork.
The design is derived from Islamic architecture.
As the tower rises from the flat desert base, there are 27
setbacks in a spiral pattern, decreasing the cross-section of the tower as it rises and creating convenient outdoor terraces. These setbacks are arranged and aligned in a way that minimizes vibration wind loading from eddy currents and vortices.
At the top, the central core emerges and is sculpted to form a finishing spire. At its tallest point, the tower sways a total of .
![Samara spiralovity minaret rijen1973](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Samara_spiralovity_minaret_rijen1973.jpg)
The spire of Burj Khalifa is composed of more than of structural steel. The central pinnacle pipe weighs and has a height of . The spire also houses communications equipment.
This spire is widely considered
vanity height
Vanity height is defined by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) as the height difference between a skyscraper's pinnacle and the highest usable floor (usually observatory, office, restaurant, retail or hotel/residential). Becau ...
, since very little of its space is usable. Without the spire, Burj Khalifa would be tall. This was reported in a
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States ...
study, which notes that the empty spire "could be a skyscraper on its own".
Such a skyscraper, if located in Europe, would be the 11th tallest building on that continent.
In 2009 architects announced that more than 1,000 pieces of art would adorn the interiors of Burj Khalifa, while the residential lobby of Burj Khalifa would display the work of
Jaume Plensa
Jaume Plensa i Suñé (; born 23 August 1955) is a Spanish visual artist, sculptor, designer and engraver. He is a versatile artist who has also created opera sets, video projections and acoustic installations. He worked with renowned Catalan t ...
.
The cladding system consists of of more than 26,000 reflective glass panels and aluminium and textured
stainless steel spandrel
A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...
panels with vertical tubular fins.
The
architectural glass
Architectural glass is glass that is used as a building material. It is most typically used as transparent glazing material in the building envelope, including windows in the external walls. Glass is also used for internal partitions and as an ...
provides solar and thermal performance as well as an anti-glare shield for the intense desert sun, extreme desert temperatures and strong winds. The glass covers more than in area. The Burj's typical curtain wall panels measure wide by high and weigh about each, with wider panels near the building's edges and taller ones near the top.
The exterior temperature at the top of the building is thought to be 6 °C (11 °F) cooler than at its base.
A 304-room Armani Hotel, the first of four by
Armani
Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...
, occupies 15 of the lower 39 floors.
The hotel was supposed to open on 18 March 2010, but after several delays, it finally opened to the public on 27 April 2010. The corporate suites and offices were also supposed to open from March onwards, yet the hotel and observation deck remained the only parts of the building which were open in April 2010.
The
sky lobbies on the 43rd and 76th floors house swimming pools.
Floors 20 through 108 have 900 private residential
apartments (which, according to the developer, sold out within eight hours of being on the market). An outdoor
zero-entry swimming pool is located on the 76th floor of the tower. Corporate offices and suites fill most of the remaining floors, except for the 122nd, 123rd, and 124th, where the ''At.mosphere'' restaurant, sky lobby, and an indoor and outdoor observation deck are located respectively. In January 2010, it was planned that Burj Khalifa would receive its first residents in February 2010.
The building has 57 elevators and 8 escalators.
The elevators have a capacity of 12 to 14 people per cabin, the fastest rising and descending at up to for double-deck elevators. However, the world's fastest single-deck elevator still belongs to
Taipei 101
Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...
at . Engineers had considered installing the world's first triple-deck elevators, but the final design called for
double-deck elevator
A double-deck elevator or double-deck lift is an elevator where one cab is stacked on top of another. This allows passengers on two consecutive floors to be able to use the elevator simultaneously, significantly increasing the passenger capaci ...
s.
The double-deck elevators are equipped with entertainment features such as LCD displays to serve visitors during their travel to the observation deck. The building has 2,909 stairs from the ground floor to the 160th floor.
Plumbing systems
The Burj Khalifa's water system supplies an average of of water per day through of pipes.
An additional of piping serves the fire emergency system, and supplies chilled water for the air conditioning system.
Air conditioning
The air conditioning system draws air from the upper floors where the air is cooler and cleaner than on the ground. At peak cooling times, the tower's cooling is , equivalent to that provided by of melting ice in one day.
Water is collected via a condensate collection system and is used to irrigate the nearby park.
Window cleaning
To wash the 24,348 windows, totaling of glass, the building has three horizontal tracks, each holding a bucket machine. Above level 109, and up to tier 27, traditional cradles from
davits are used. The top of the building is cleaned by a crew that uses ropes to descend from the top to gain access. Under normal conditions, when all building maintenance units are operational, it takes 36 workers three to four months to clean the entire exterior.
Unmanned machines clean the top 27 additional tiers and the glass spire. The cleaning system was developed in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia, by CoxGomyl, a manufacturer of
building maintenance units,
[,] at a cost of
A$8 million.
Features
The Dubai Fountain
![Dubai Fountain 7](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Dubai_Fountain_7.JPG)
Outside the Burj Khalifa,
WET Enterprises
WET, also known as WET Design, is a water feature design firm based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1983 by former Disney Imagineers Mark Fuller, Melanie Simon, and Alan Robinson, the company has designed over two hundred fountains and wa ...
designed a fountain system at a cost of
Dh 800 million (US$217 million). Illuminated by 6,600 lights and 50 coloured projectors, it is long and shoots water into the air while accompanied by a range of classical to contemporary Arabic and other music. It is the world's largest choreographed fountain. On 26 October 2008, Emaar announced that based on results of a naming contest the fountain would be called the Dubai Fountain.
Observation deck
![View from burj khalifa6934713247 db12c311cb o](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/View_from_burj_khalifa6934713247_db12c311cb_o.jpg)
An outdoor
observation deck
An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclos ...
, named ''
At the Top'', opened on 5 January 2010 on the 124th floor. At , it was the highest outdoor observation deck in the world when it opened. Although it was surpassed in December 2011 by ''Cloud Top 488'' on the
Canton Tower
The Canton Tower (), formally Guangzhou TV Astronomical and Sightseeing Tower (), is a -tall multipurpose observation tower in the Haizhu District of Guangzhou ( alternatively romanized as ''Canton''). The tower was topped out in 2009 and it ...
, Guangzhou at ,
Burj Khalifa opened the 148th floor SKY level at , once again giving it the highest observation deck in the world on 15 October 2014,
until the
Shanghai Tower
Shanghai Tower () is a 128-story, megatall skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. opened in June 2016 with an observation deck at a height of 561 metres. The 124th floor observation deck also features the electronic telescope, an
augmented reality device developed by
Gsmprjct°
GSM Project is a Montreal-based company specialized in the design and production of thematic installations and exhibitions mainly for museums.[Montréal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...](_blank)
, which allows visitors to view the surrounding landscape in real-time, and to view previously saved images such as those taken at different times of day or under different weather conditions.
To reduce the daily rush of sightseers, management allows visitors to purchase tickets in advance for a specific date and time, at a 75% discount on tickets purchased on the spot.
On 8 February 2010, the observation deck was closed to the public for two months after power-supply problems caused an elevator to become stuck between floors, trapping a group of tourists for 45 minutes.
When the tide is low and visibility is high, people can see the shores of Iran (which is around away) from the top of the skyscraper.
Burj Khalifa park
Burj Khalifa is surrounded by an park designed by landscape architects SWA Group. Like the tower, the park's design was based on the flower of the ''
Hymenocallis
''Hymenocallis'' (US) or , p. 76 (UK) is a genus of American plants in the amaryllis family.
''Hymenocallis'' contains more than 60 species of herbaceous bulbous perennials native to the southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America, ...
'', a desert plant. At the centre of the park is the water room, which is a series of pools and water jet fountains. Benches and signs incorporate images of Burj Khalifa and the ''Hymenocallis'' flower.
The plants are watered by water collected from the building's cooling system. The system provides annually.
WET Enterprises
WET, also known as WET Design, is a water feature design firm based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1983 by former Disney Imagineers Mark Fuller, Melanie Simon, and Alan Robinson, the company has designed over two hundred fountains and wa ...
, who also developed the
Dubai Fountain, developed the park's six water features.
Floor plans
Ramadan observance
On the higher floors, the sun can still be seen for several minutes after it has set at ground level. This has led Dubai clerics to rule that those living above the 80th floor should wait 2 additional minutes to break their
Ramadan fast, and those living above the 150th floor, 3 minutes.
Construction and structure
The tower was constructed by Samsung C&T from
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
, which also did work on the
Petronas Twin Towers
The Petronas Towers, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers or KLCC Twin Towers, ( Malay: ''Menara Berkembar Petronas'') are 88-storey supertall skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, standing at . From 1998 to 2003, they were officially desig ...
and
Taipei 101
Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...
.
Samsung C&T built the tower in a joint venture with
BESIX
BESIX Group is a construction group based in Brussels, one of the world's leading international contractors according to the ENR ranking. Active since 1909, BESIX operates in Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, Africa, North America and Asia.
Its a ...
from Belgium and
Arabtec
Arabtec Holding PJSC, was Dubai's most heavily traded and largest construction group in GCC, together with its subsidiaries, provided construction services for residential, commercial, oil and gas, infrastructure, power, facilities management, and ...
from the UAE.
Turner
Turner may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name
*One who uses a lathe for turni ...
was the project manager on the main construction contract.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
-based
Far East Aluminum combined to provide the exterior cladding for Burj Khalifa.
The contractor and the engineer of record was
Hyder Consulting
Hyder Consulting was a multi-national advisory and design consultancy with particular specialisation in the transport, property, utilities and environmental sectors. The firm employed approximately 4,200 people across the UK, Europe, Germany, Midd ...
. Under UAE law, the contractor and the engineer of record is
jointly and severally liable
Where two or more persons are liable in respect of the same liability, in most common law legal systems they may either be:
* jointly liable, or
* severally liable, or
* jointly and severally liable.
Joint liability
If parties have joint liabili ...
for the performance of Burj Khalifa.
The primary structure is reinforced concrete.
Putzmeister
Putzmeister is a German manufacturer of concrete pumps and other equipment for pumping, distributing and placing concrete, mortar and other high-density solids, and for preparing, temporarily storing, processing and transporting these materials. ...
created a new, super high-pressure trailer
concrete pump
A concrete pump is a machine used for transferring liquid concrete by pumping. There are different types of concrete pumps.
A common type of concrete pump for large scale construction projects is known as a boom concrete pump, because it uses ...
, the BSA 14000 SHP-D, for this project.
Burj Khalifa's construction used of concrete and of steel
rebar, and construction took 22 million man-hours.
In May 2008 Putzmeister pumped concrete with more than 21 MPA ultimate compressive strength of gravel to surpass the 600 meters weight of the effective area of each column from the foundation to the next fourth level, and the rest was by metal columns ''jacketed'' or ''covered'' with concrete to a then world record delivery height of ,
the 156th floor. Three
tower crane
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist rope, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It is mainly used for lifting heavy objects and transpor ...
s were used during the construction of the uppermost levels, each capable of lifting a 25-tonne load. The remaining structure above was constructed of lighter steel.
In 2003, 33 test holes were drilled to study the strength of the
bedrock underlying the structure.
[ ''"Weak to very weak sandstone and siltstone"'' was found, just metres below the surface. Samples were taken from test holes drilled to a depth of 140 metres, finding weak to very weak rock all the way.] The study described the site as part of a ''"seismically active area"''. Another challenging element was the shamal which often creates sandstorms.
Over of concrete, weighing more than were used to construct the concrete and steel foundation, which features 192 piles; each pile is 1.5 metre in diameter by 43 m in length, buried more than deep. The foundation was designed to support the total building weight of approximately . This weight was then divided by the compressive strength of concrete which is 30 MPa which yielded 450 sq. meters of vertical normal effective area, which then yielded 12 meters by 12 meters dimensions. A cathodic protection
Cathodic protection (CP; ) is a technique used to control the corrosion of a metal surface by making it the cathode of an electrochemical cell. A simple method of protection connects the metal to be protected to a more easily corroded "sacrific ...
system is under the concrete to neutralize the sulphate and chloride-rich groundwater and prevent corrosion.
During the construction of the Burj Khalifa, over 35,000 tonnes of structural steel which held the Palace of the Republic, the former parliament building of the German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**G ...
, the Volkskammer
__NOTOC__
The Volkskammer (, ''People's Chamber'') was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany).
The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house w ...
, in East Berlin together were shipped to Dubai in 2008.
The Burj Khalifa is highly compartmentalised. Pressurized, air-conditioned refuge floors are located every 13 floors (on floors G, 13, 26, 39, 52, etc.) where people can shelter on their long walk down to safety in case of an emergency or fire.
Special mixes of concrete were made to withstand the extreme pressures of the massive building weight; as is typical with reinforced concrete construction, each batch of concrete was tested to ensure it could withstand certain pressures. CTLGroup
CTLGroup is an engineering, architecture, and materials science firm that provides engineering, testing and scientific services in the following markets: Building & Facilities; Emergent Solutions; Energy & Resources; Litigation & Insurance; Materia ...
, working for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, conducted the creep and shrinkage testing critical for the structural analysis of the building.
The consistency of the concrete used in the project was essential. It was difficult to create a concrete that could withstand both the thousands of tonnes bearing down on it and Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
temperatures that can reach . To combat this problem, the concrete was not poured during the day. Instead, during the summer months, ice was added to the mixture and it was poured at night when the air was cooler and the humidity was higher. Cooler concrete cures more evenly and is, therefore, less likely to set too quickly and crack. Any significant cracks could have put the entire project in jeopardy.
Milestones
* January 2004: Excavation commences.
* February 2004: Piling starts.
* 21 September 2004: Emaar contractors begin construction.
* March 2005: Structure of Burj Khalifa starts rising.
* June 2006: Level 50 is reached.
* February 2007: Surpasses the Sears Tower
The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM ...
as the building with the most floors.
* 13 May 2007: Sets record for vertical concrete pump
A concrete pump is a machine used for transferring liquid concrete by pumping. There are different types of concrete pumps.
A common type of concrete pump for large scale construction projects is known as a boom concrete pump, because it uses ...
ing on any building at , surpassing the to which concrete was pumped during the construction of Taipei 101
Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...
, while Burj Khalifa reached the 130th floor.
* 21 July 2007: Surpasses Taipei 101, whose height of made it the world's tallest building, and level 141 reached.
* 12 August 2007: Surpasses the Sears Tower antenna, which stands .
* 12 September 2007: At , becomes the world's tallest freestanding structure, surpassing the CN Tower
The CN Tower (french: Tour CN) is a concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built on the former Railway Lands, it was completed in 1976. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway c ...
in Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, and level 150 reached.
* 7 April 2008: At , surpasses the KVLY-TV Mast
The KVLY-TV mast (formerly the KTHI-TV mast) is a television-transmitting mast in Blanchard, North Dakota. It is used by Fargo station KVLY-TV channel 11 and KXJB-LD's Argusville/ Valley City/ Mayville translator K28MA-D channel 28. Completed ...
to become the tallest human-made structure, level 160 reached.
* 17 June 2008: Emaar announces that Burj Khalifa's height is over and that its final height will not be given until it is completed in September 2009.
* 1 September 2008: Height tops , making it the tallest human-made structure ever built, surpassing the previous record-holder, the Warsaw Radio Mast
The Warsaw Radio Mast (Polish: ''Maszt radiowy w Konstantynowie'') was a radio mast located near Gąbin, Poland, and the world's tallest structure at from 1974 until its collapse on 8 August 1991. Designed by Jan Polak, and one of the ...
in Konstantynów, Poland.
* 17 January 2009: Topped out
In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlaye ...
at .
* 1 October 2009: Emaar announces that the exterior of the building is completed.
* 4 January 2010: Burj Khalifa's official launch ceremony is held and Burj Khalifa is opened. Burj Dubai was renamed Burj Khalifa in honour of the President of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar, خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; 7 September 1948 – 13 May 2022) was the second president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, serving from ...
.
* 10 March 2010: Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States ...
certifies Burj Khalifa as world's tallest building.
Real estate values
In March 2009, Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman of the project's developer, Emaar Properties
Emaar Properties (Emaar Developments or simply Emaar) is an Emirati multinational real estate development company located in the United Arab Emirates. It is a public joint-stock company, listed on the Dubai Financial Market, and has a valuation o ...
, said office space pricing at Burj Khalifa reached US$4,000 per sq ft (over US$43,000 per m2) and the Armani Residences, also in Burj Khalifa, sold for US$3,500 per sq ft (over US$37,500 per m2). He estimated the total cost for the project to be about US$1.5 billion.
The project's completion coincided with the financial crisis of 2007–2008
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...
, and with vast overbuilding in the country, leading to high vacancies and foreclosures. With Dubai mired in debt from its huge ambitions, the government was forced to seek multibillion-dollar bailouts from its oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi. Subsequently, in a surprise move at its opening ceremony, the tower was renamed Burj Khalifa, said to honour the UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar, خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; 7 September 1948 – 13 May 2022) was the second president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, serving from ...
for his crucial support.
Because of the slumping demand in Dubai's property market, the rents in the Burj Khalifa plummeted 40% some ten months after its opening. Out of 900 apartments in the tower, 825 were still empty at that time. However, over the next two and a half years, overseas investors steadily began to purchase the available apartments and office space. By October 2012, Emaar reported that around 80% of the apartments were occupied.
Official launch ceremony
The ceremony was broadcast live on a giant screen on Burj Park Island Burj ( ar, برج, ''tower'', derived from either Middle Persian "burg" or Greek loan-word "pyrgos") may refer to:
Places India
*Burj Kaila, a village in Jalandhar district, Punjab, India
*Burj Pukhta, a village in Jalandhar district, Punjab, Indi ...
and on smaller screens elsewhere. Hundreds of media outlets from around the world reported live from the scene. In addition to the media presence, 6,000 guests were expected.
The opening was held on 4 January 2010. The ceremony featured a display of 10,000 fireworks, light beams projected on and around the tower, and further sound, light and water effects. The celebratory lighting was designed by UK lighting designers Speirs and Major Associates
Speirs Major (formerly Speirs + Major, Speirs and Major Associates) is a UK lighting design practice founded by Jonathan Speirs (1958-2012) and Mark Major in 1993. The practice is noted for its illumination of many prominent buildings, including ...
. Using the 868 powerful stroboscope
A stroboscope, also known as a strobe, is an instrument used to make a cyclically moving object appear to be slow-moving, or stationary. It consists of either a rotating disk with slots or holes or a lamp such as a flashtube which produces br ...
lights that are integrated into the façade and spire of the tower, different lighting sequences were choreographed, together with more than 50 different combinations of other effects.
Controversies
Fatalities
Within 17 months of the building's official opening, a man described as "an Asian in his mid-30s", who worked at one of the companies in the tower, died by suicide on 10 May 2011 by jumping from the 147th floor. He fell 39 floors, landing on a deck on the 108th floor. Dubai police confirmed the act as a suicide, reporting that "hey
Hey or Hey! may refer to:
Music
* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
* ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
also came to know that the man decided to commit suicide as his company refused to grant leave."
On 18 May 2015, Dubai police disputed a report that a Portuguese national who was in Dubai on a tourist visa fell to her death from Burj Khalifa's "At the Top SKY" observation deck on the 148th floor, and said that this incident took place in Jumeirah Lakes Towers
The Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) ( ar, أبراج بحيرات الجميرا) is a large development in Dubai, United Arab Emirates which consists of 80 towers being constructed along the edges of three artificial lakes (Lake Almas West, Lake Alm ...
. A Dubai coroner's report stated her body was found on the third floor of the Burj Khalifa. Emails obtained under the Freedom of Information act from Portugal's embassy in the UAE also confirmed that she had committed suicide from the 148th floor of the Burj Khalifa.
Labour controversy
The Burj Khalifa was built primarily by workers from South Asia and East Asia. This is generally because the current generation of UAE locals prefer governmental jobs and do not have an attitude favouring private sector employment. On 17 June 2008, there were about 7,500 skilled workers employed at the construction site. Press reports indicated in 2006 that skilled carpenters
Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters t ...
at the site earned £4.34 a day, and labourers earned £2.84. According to a BBC investigation and a Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
report, the workers were housed in abysmal conditions, and worked long hours for low pay. During construction, only one construction-related death was reported. However, workplace injuries and fatalities in the UAE are "poorly documented", according to Human Rights Watch.
In March 2006 about 2,500 workers, upset over buses that were delayed for the end of their shifts, protested and triggered a riot, damaging cars, offices, computers, and construction equipment. A Dubai Interior Ministry official said the rioters caused almost £500,000 in damage. Most of the workers involved in the riot returned the following day but refused to work.
Events
Emaar New Year's Eve is an annual event held every 31 December at Burj Khalifa, the World's tallest building in Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, the United Arab Emirates, organized by Emaar
Emaar Properties (Emaar Developments or simply Emaar) is an Emirati multinational real estate development company located in the United Arab Emirates. It is a public joint-stock company, listed on the Dubai Financial Market, and has a valuation ...
.
Emaar New Year's Eve has won two Guinness World Records, including 'Largest LED-Illuminated Facade' in 2015 and 2019.
In 2021, Emaar celebrated 'togetherness' in honor of frontline heroes during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Origin
The Emaar New Year's Eve fireworks celebration originated in 2010 with the inauguration of the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa. The celebration was broadcast live to more than two million people and lasted for three minutes. An accompanying sound and light show was choreographed by The Dubai Fountain.
Broadcasting collaboration
Since 2011, the broadcasting rights have been held by Dubai Media Incorporated
Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) is the official media organization of the government of Dubai. It was established in 2003 as a state-owned company comprising a number of print, radio and TV channels under its umbrella including: Dubai TV, '' Al B ...
(DMI) and Dubai TV
Dubai TV is a TV channel offered by the Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI). It replaced Emirates Dubai Television on June 14, 2004. Dubai TV broadcasts programmes predominantly in Arabic. The programming caters to family Arab audience specifically ...
. The event is also broadcast live around the World.
In 2017 and 2018, Emaar New Year's Eve was broadcast live on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, and YouTube. In 2020, it was broadcast live for the first time on Zoom
Zoom may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Zoom (software), videoconferencing application
* Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display
* Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
.
Other uses
BASE jumping
The building has been used by several experienced BASE jumpers
''Base Jumpers'' is a platform game developed by Shadow Software for the Amiga
Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers wit ...
for authorised and unauthorised BASE jumping:
* In May 2008, Hervé Le Gallou and David McDonnell, dressed as engineers, entered Burj Khalifa (around at the time), and jumped off a balcony situated several floors below the 160th floor.
* On 8 January 2010, with permission of the authorities, Nasr Al Niyadi and Omar Al Hegelan, from the Emirates Aviation Society, broke the world record for the highest BASE jump from a building after they leapt from a crane-suspended platform attached to the 160th floor at . The two men descended the vertical drop at a speed of up to , with enough time to open their parachutes 10 seconds into the 90-second jump.
* On 21 April 2014, with permission of the authorities and support from several sponsors, highly experienced French BASE jumpers Vince Reffet and Fred Fugen broke the Guinness world record for the highest BASE jump from a building after they leapt from a specially designed platform, built at the very top of the pinnacle, at .
Climbing
On 28 March 2011, Alain "Spiderman" Robert scaled the outside of Burj Khalifa. The climb to the top of the spire took six hours. To comply with UAE safety laws, Robert, who usually climbs in free solo style, used a rope and harness.
Awards
In June 2010, Burj Khalifa was the recipient of the 2010 "Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa" award by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. On 28 September 2010 Burj Khalifa won the award for the best project of the year at the Middle East Architect Awards 2010. Awards Chair Gordon Gill, of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water".
The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...
, said:
Burj Khalifa was also the recipient of the following awards.
See also
* List of buildings in Dubai
Below is a list of buildings in Dubai. Dubai has a varied set of buildings and structures in different architectural styles. Many modern interpretations of Islamic architecture can be found here due to a boom in construction and architectural in ...
* List of buildings with 100 floors or more
This is a list of buildings with 100 floors or more above ground. Dubai and Chicago have three buildings with at least 100 floors.
Completed buildings
This list includes buildings whose construction is complete, or are topped-out.
Building ...
* List of development projects in Dubai
The government's decision to diversify from an oil-based economy, and to make Dubai the main hub of tourists in the world, has made and other developmental projects such as Dubailand, more valuable, resulting in the property boom from 2004 to 200 ...
* List of tallest buildings and structures
The world's tallest human-made structure is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (of the United Arab Emirates). The building gained the official title of "tallest building in the world" and the tallest self-supported structure at its opening on January ...
* List of tallest freestanding structures
This is a list of tallest freestanding structures in the world past and present. To be freestanding a structure must not be supported by guy wires, the sea or other types of support. It therefore does not include guyed masts, partially guyed to ...
* List of tallest buildings in Dubai
Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, is home to many extremely tall modern high-rises, 108 of which stand taller than . The tallest building in Dubai is the Burj Khalifa, which rises and contains 163 floors. The tower has ...
* List of tallest buildings in the United Arab Emirates
This list of tallest buildings in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks skyscrapers based on official height. The tallest building in the UAE is Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which rises and contains 163 floors. The tower has stood as both the tallest bu ...
* List of tallest buildings
This list of tallest buildings includes skyscrapers with continuously occupiable floors and a height of at least . Non-building structures, such as towers, are not included in this list (for these, see '' List of tallest buildings and structu ...
* List of tallest structures
The tallest structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa skyscraper at . Listed are guyed masts (such as telecommunication masts), self-supporting towers (such as the CN Tower), skyscrapers (such as the Willis Tower), oil platforms, electricity t ...
* Jeddah Tower
Jeddah Tower ( ar, برج جدة), previously known as Kingdom Tower (), is a skyscraper construction project currently on hold. Located on the north side of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, it is planned to be the first tall building, and the centrep ...
References
External links
*
* (597 KB) (''Structure'' magazine, June 2006)
* (620 KB) (Irwin et al., November 2006)
* BBC reports
Burj Khalifa opening
with video and links
Maintaining the world's tallest building
*
{{Authority control
Articles containing video clips
High-tech architecture
Hotel buildings completed in 2009
Islamic architecture
Neo-futurism architecture
Office buildings completed in 2009
Postmodern architecture in Dubai
Residential buildings completed in 2009
Residential skyscrapers in Dubai
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill buildings
Skyscraper hotels in Dubai
Skyscraper office buildings in Dubai
2009 establishments in the United Arab Emirates