Workers stand in the shade in front of Burj Dubai, the world's tallest man-made structure under construction, in Dubai. Construction company Emaar said on Nov. 10, 2009 that the final work was being carried out on the interior of the building ahead of the January opening. Photograph: AFP
Burj Dubai is the tallest man-made structure in the world, surpassing the KVLY-TV Tower in North Dakota as well as Warszawa Radio Mast, the previous tallest structure ever built.
The triple-lobed footprint of the building is based on an abstracted desert flower native to the region.
A subtle reference to the onion domes of Islamic architecture can be found in the building's silhouette when looking up at the lobes from near the base.
The tower will be situated on a man-made lake which is designed to wrap around the tower and to provide dramatic views of it.
Engineers working on the design considered installing triple-decker elevators, which would have been the first in the world. The realized building will use double-decker elevators.
The top of the building will contain a public observation deck and a private club above that.
Although the building's shape resembles the bundled tube concept of the Willis Tower, it is structurally very different and is technically not a tube structure.
The design by Skidmore Owings & Merrill replaces a plan to reuse the design for Grollo Tower, which was proposed in Melbourne a few years earlier.
"Burj" is Arabic for "Tower".
The highest residential floor will be level 109.
An observation deck will occupy the 124th floor.
The building was rotated 120 degrees to allow for less stress from the prevailing winds.
The building sits on a concrete and steel podium with 192 piles descending to a depth of more than 50 metres (164 feet).
A total of 45,000 cubic metres of concrete are used in the foundations with a weight in excess of 110,000 tonnes.
The exterior cladding is of reflective glazing with aluminium and textured stainless steel spandrel panels with vertical tubular fins of stainless steel.
The cladding system is designed to withstand Dubai's extreme summer temperatures.
This is the first world's tallest building since prehistoric times to include residential space.
The official height has not been released, and remains secret. The total height of 808 meters is subject to change.
Designed by Adrian D. Smith, FAIA, RIBA Design Partner at Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP.
Burj Dubai became the world's tallest high-rise building on July 24, 2007, and the world's tallest self-supporting structure on September 12, 2007.
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Burj Dubai, a popping skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is the present tallest man-made building, which is under construction. The construction of this building began on 21st September 2004 and the construction is expected to be completed by the end of the year 2009. The height of the building is 818m, which is equal to 2,684 ft. The total budget of the Burj Dubai is about US $4.1 billion. This tower is composed of three elements arranged around a central core and it contains 26 terraces.
As the tower is residing in a flat desert base, setbacks occur at each element in an upward spiraling pattern to decrease the cross section of the tower as it reaches towards the sky.This dazzling building contains totally 162 floors. Notably the exterior cladding of this massive tower is of reflective glazing. The cladding is designed in such a manner that it can withstand even Dubai’s extreme summer temperatures. The 56 elevators with double-deck elevators will be installed. The speed of the elevators would be 700m/min.
