Burj Dubai

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This article or section contains information about a building currently under construction. It may contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically as construction progresses and new information becomes available.

Burj Dubai
Information
Status	Under Construction
Groundbreaking	21 September 2004
Est. Completion	30 June 2009
Opening	June 2009 (est.)
Height
Antenna/Spire	808 m (2,651 ft) [1]
Roof	643.3 m (2,111 ft)
Top floor	624.1 m (2,048 ft) (estimate)
Technical Details
Floor count	162 (estimate) above, 2 underground
Floor area	344,000 sq. m 3.7 million sq. ft.
Companies
Architect	SOM
Contractor	Samsung Constructions / BESIX / Arabtec
Developer	Emaar

Coordinates: 25°11′50″N, 55°16′26.60″E The Burj Dubai (Arabic: برج دبي for "Dubai Tower") is a supertall skyscraper currently under construction in the "New Downtown" of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The building is part of a huge development located at the "First interchange" along Sheikh Zayed Road at Doha Street near the "Defence round-about". The lead architect is Adrian Smith, formerly of the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and now partner in the firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. Its final height is officially being kept a secret due to competition; however, figures released by a contractor on the project have suggested a height of around 808 metres (2,651 feet).^[2] Based on this height, the total number of habitable floors is expected to be around 162. However, on the project's official website, an interior graphic of an elevator panel shows floor numbers up to 195. A more recent article by building subcontractor Persian Gulf Extrusions states a final height "over 940 metres", or at least 3,084 feet,^[3] but this has not yet been confirmed by Emaar. This new figure is 24 metres higher than the final height rumoured on burjdubaiskyscraper.com. Another source, from dubaimegaprojects.com reported an estimated final height of 1,011 metres and a floor count of 216 floors.

Contents 1 Height 1.1 Race for the top 2 Architecture and design 3 Purpose 4 Labour controversy 5 Gallery 6 See also 7 Notes 8 External links

[edit] Height

If all goes according to plan, Burj Dubai will soon become the tallest building in the world, beating current title holders CN Tower in Toronto (tallest freestanding structure) and Taipei 101 in Taiwan (tallest building), as well as other proposed skyscrapers like the Freedom Tower at New York City's World Trade Center, the Shanghai World Financial Center, the Port Tower complex in Karachi, the Sumida Tower, and Chicago's Spire (formerly the Fordham Spire). In addition, with a minimum height of 630 m, the Burj Dubai will assume the title of the world's tallest structure, surpassing the guyed KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota. It will be nearly twice the height of the Empire State Building.

Though unconfirmed, Burj Dubai has been rumored to have undergone several height increases since its inception. Originally proposed as a virtual clone of the 560 m (1,837 ft) Grollo Tower proposal from Melbourne, the tower was quickly redesigned with an original design by Skidmore Owings and Merrill seen above and discussed below. This design stood put it at approximately 705 metres (2,313 ft). Contradictory information abounds regarding the official height of the building, which is to be expected considering the building seeks to acquire the designation as the world's tallest structure upon completion in 2008. One website ^[4] mentions a rumored final height of 916 metres in a September 28, 2006 posting, but this is contradicted by a September 20, 2006 article listing a height over 940 metres (3,084 ft).^[3]

The lead architect, Adrian Smith, felt that the top-most section of the building did not culminate elegantly, so he sought and received approval to increase it to the currently planned height. It has been explicitly stated that this change did not include any added floors,^[5], which is fitting with Smith's attempts to make the crown more slender. However, the top of the tower, from the 156th floor onward or from 575 metres to the top, will be a steel frame structure, unlike the lower portion's reinforced concrete. The developer, Emaar, has stated this steel section may be extended to beat any other tower to the title of tallest; however, once the tower is complete the height cannot be changed.

As of April 5, 2007, Burj Dubai is at Level 119 and 417.5 meters tall. It is currently the world's 6th tallest highrise. On 12 February 2007, the construction of the core halted for reconfiguration of the 4th set of mechanical floors on levels 109-111 while its wings continue to rise. On 8 February 2007, Burj Dubai reached the 109th level surpassing Chicago's Sears Tower's 108 floors as the building with the most floors in the world,^[6] and soon afterwards the World Trade Center's 110 floors, as the most floors of any building ever. Little in the way of the curtain wall glass exterior has been installed on the structure, but recent reports indicate that the cladding for the Burj Dubai will be arriving in June.

[edit] Race for the top

Burj Dubai's main competitor now is actually proposed at a location 50 km away from the Burj Dubai site. This tower, Al Burj (originally planned for the centre of Palm Jumeirah), is being developed by Nakheel Properties and is keeping the height under wraps. It is said to be at least 700 m tall, making it a formidable threat to Burj Dubai's world's tallest building status. Also competing with the Burj Dubai, a proposed 1,001 metre-high skyscraper may be erected in Kuwait as part of a new city development project called Madinat al-Hareer ("City of Silk"). However, the project is part of a massive redevelopment expected to take 25 years to complete according to some reports.^[7] The entire development incorporates an Olympic stadium, residences, hotels, and retail facilities.

[edit] Architecture and design

The tower is designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, who also designed the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Freedom Tower in New York City, among numerous other famous high-rises.

The design of Burj Dubai is ostensibly derived from the patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture. The tower is composed of three elements arranged around a central core. As the tower rises from the flat desert base, setbacks occur at each element in an upward spiraling pattern, decreasing the cross section of the tower as it reaches toward the sky. At the top, the central core emerges and is sculpted to form a finishing spire. A Y-shaped floor plan maximizes views of the Persian Gulf.

The interior will be decorated by Giorgio Armani. An Armani Hotel (the first of its kind) will occupy the lower 37 floors. Floors 45 through 108 will have 700 private apartments in 64 floors (which, according to the developer, sold out within eight hours of going on sale). Corporate offices and suites will fill most of the remaining floors, except for a 123rd floor lobby and 124th floor indoor/outdoor observation deck. The spire will also hold communications equipment. An outdoor zero-entry swimming pool will be located on the 78th floor of the tower.

It will also feature the world's fastest elevator, at 18 m/s (65 km/h, 40 mph).^[8] The world's current fastest elevator is in the Taipei 101 office tower, Taipei, Taiwan, at 16.83 m/s (60.6 km/h, 37.5 mph).

[edit] Purpose

The Burj Dubai has been designed to be the centrepiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, nine hotels such as the Burj Dubai Lake Hotel & Serviced Apartments, 2.5 hectares (6 acres) of parkland, at least 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and the 12 hectare Burj Dubai Lake. The complete 500 acre development will cost about US$20 billion. Once completed, the tower will cover a total of two million m² (22 million ft²) of development.

The silvery glass-sheathed concrete building will restore the title of Earth's tallest structure to the Middle East — a title not held by the region since Lincoln Cathedral upset the three-millennia reign of Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza in 1311 AD.

The decision to build Burj Dubai and other skyscrapers is reportedly based on the government's decision to diversify from a trade-based (and oil-reliant) economy to one that is service- and tourism-oriented. Currently, Dubai has a population of 1.5 million, with many areas of it still being desert land (covering over 90% of the 4,114 km² (1,517 mile²) country),^[9] or very sparsely populated. According to officials, it is necessary for projects like Burj Dubai to be built in the city, so that Dubai can get more recognition in the outside world. "He (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum) wanted to put Dubai on the map with something really sensational," said Jacqui Josephson, Tourism and VIP delegations executive at Nakheel Properties.^[10]

[edit] Labour controversy

Burj Dubai is being built primarily by immigrant engineers and workers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and the Philippines. Press reports indicate that skilled carpenters at the site earn US$7.60 (£4.34)/day, and laborers earn US$4.00 (£2.84).^[11][12] Unions were forbidden in the United Arab Emirates up until recently, but the government announced steps to allow construction unions.^[13]

On 2006-03-21, tensions boiled over at the construction site as workers employed by Al Naboodah to build the Dubai Mall next door rioted over low wages and poor working conditions. They damaged cars, offices, computers, and construction tools worth over one million dollars. Construction workers at Dubai International Airport staged a sympathy strike. A majority of conflicting news reports claimed that the riots also affected work at the Burj Dubai itself. But the development manager for Samsung Corp., the South Korean chaebol that is the Burj Dubai chief contractor, said construction was moving ahead and was unaffected by the labor dispute in adjacent projects.^[14]

[edit] Gallery

2006-02-01	2006-08-29	2006-11-11	2007-02-26
2007-03-21

[edit] See also

• Supertall
• Skyscraper
• Tallest free standing structure on land
• List of buildings with 100 floors or more

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture - official website
• Burj Dubai Skyscraper—Construction photos & Information
• Burj Dubai (Downtown Dubai) - The tower and its surroundings
• Burj Dubai—Project Information from Design Build Network
• SkyscraperPage Burj Dubai
• Dubai Development & Investment Authority
• "The Burj Dubai Tower Wind Engineering" (Irwin, Baker, June 2006) STRUCTURE magazine
• "The Burj Dubai Tower - Wind Channel Testing of Cladding and Pedestrian Level" (Erwin, etal, November 2006) STRUCTURE magazine
• [http://www.Burjdubai.com
• Otis Worldwide, Signature Projects—Information on the project's elevators at the Otis Elevator Company
• Fly over Burj Dubai using images and the API of GoogleMaps
• Burj Dubai Tower
• Wind and Other Studies performed by RWDI

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