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In the Press:

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Burj Dubai -The tallest building in the world

Burj dubai design Burj dubai pictures
In the news Resources

"Burj", the Arabic word for tower along with "Dubai" will forever be put on the map with this tower as Burj Dubai developer Emaar Properties PJSC intended.

Why Dubai? Some people asks. Well why Singapore or Hong Kong and who could possibly have predicted Los Angeles growth back in 1850 when it first got recognized as a city? The Burj Dubai alone is the fact, people are willing to invest to make this happen and why Dubai? Why not?

But it's been quite and effort though, anyone who recalls this building for example?


Burj Al arab Skyscraper, 321 m (1,053 ft).
Picture courtesy to WS Atkins & Partners.


Jebel Ali free zone, making it possible.
Burj Dubai Facts.
The Burj Dubai height is a controversial question.
The location of Burj Dubai, Dubais new downtown.
Under Construction pictures from the Dubai web cam.

More topics on the menu to your left.

Jebel Ali free zone, making it possible.

1,510,000 inhabitants isn't enough to make up a metropolis so why not
put the other eight million or so on a plane and fly them down there?

Tourism is the keyword, 2003 Dubai had 2.8 million visitors, in the year of 2010 this number is expected to be well over ten million but how do you make that happen?

You do what they did in the Nevada desert in the 1960 th, you build attraction but in the case of Dubai gambling isn't in it's profile but Disneyland is however.

Burj Dubai is only a small part of what's beeing constructed in Dubai, the amusement park Dubai land will be twice the size of Walt Disney World in Florida and Dubai Mall the largest department store in the world of which both of them already are under construction.

So how do you finance all this? Oil? Well, that's one part of it, but
ever since oil was beeing found in 1966 the ruling Al Maktoum dynasty
has tried hard to limit the economy's dependense to it and today oil make up for less then 5% of the GDP. Clever. So if it's not oil, then what is it?

Containers, with it's strategic location Dubai port is the 12 th largest in the world and there to favour it is the Jebel Ali free zone, without it, no Burj Dubai.

Established in 1980 by Premier Minister and Vice President HH Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum the free zone ease for foreign corporations to settle and in only a few decades Dubai has become one of the most important business hubs in the middle east. Probably the most.

Today only 25% of Dubai's population are native Emiratis to compare with Hong Kongs 95% Cantonese population for example and few of them are likely to be able to afford one of the Dh 3.1 million condos in the Burj Dubai($9 million). However the demographics open up for a truly intriguing and hopefully prosperous future that no one could have expected few years back.

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Burj Dubai Facts.

Architect: Adrian Smith (SOM).
Construction :
2004-30.12.2008
Construction Company: Samsung E&C.
Cost : $8 billion compared to Petronas Tower 1.6 billion back in 1998.
Design company: Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM).
Elevators : 66 double deckers moving at the speed of 18m/s (40mph), making it the worlds fastest.
Facade: Ferroconcrete, steel-frame.
Floors : 110*
Foundation: Concrete with 55 m(84 ft)tall piles attached into the ground.
Frame: Reflecting glazing to cool and save energy.
Gross Floor Space: 314,000 m² (3,378,137.6 sqft).
Height :
705 m (2,313 ft)*.
Observation deck: Indoor and outdoor at the 124 th floor, 34 floors abow the current leader Taipei 101.
Project size: 190 hectares including artificial lake and downtown Dubai.

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The Burj Dubai height is a controversial question.

The fact is Burj Dubai as we come to know it wasn't intended to be built at all, this was however.


The originally proposed Grollo tower.
Photo Courtesy to Denton Corker Marshall Pty Ltd.

Originally proposed for Melbourne, Australia it would have topped out at, 560 m (1,837 ft.) Fortunately none of them got built, at least it's my personal high-rise-junkie-opinion.

The developer, Emaar, refuse to state the final height, nothing new in the race of the tallest building in the world but the fact Burj Dubai is facing harder competition then any former candidate to the title most likely are not even Emaar themselves can say for sure. But of course there are some rumours.

An old height figure say 705 m (2,313 ft) but uptil very recently a few of the Burj Dubais contractors have leaked som information which indicate heights over the 3000 ft(920 m)barrier.

The fact Burj Dubai s top will be inhabitable opens up for a the possible addition of a few extra ft:s in the final construction phase which makes this topic even harder to estimate. Maby someone recall the famous height battle between the Chrysler and Empire state building.


The 185 ft(58.6 m) spire as seen on the picture
were secretly constructed inside the Chrysler building
making it the worlds tallest tower. Photo courtesy to Richard James.

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The Location of Burj Dubai, Dubai Downtown.


Towering skyscrapers of dubai and Downtown Dubai.
Picture Courtesy to Emaar Properties PJSC.

In fact the Abow downtown Dubai is one of the smaller construction zones in Dubai. Right in front of you, out in the sea would now "the World" and the "Palm Deira" be visible, two gigantic projects made up of artifical islands and well under it's way of construction. Construction in Dubai goes fast.

Right in front of the Burj Dubai is the artificial lake and the warehouse looking buildings on the right is the Dubai Mall. The tall building to the left in the picture(the one with a significant shadow)of the mall is the Burj Dubai Lake Hotel & Serviced Apartments. It's actually 306 m (1003 ft) tall, comparable to the Eiffel tower but in proportion to it's surrounding and the Burj Dubai it looks kind a low-scale. The area between the Burj Dubai Lake hotel and highrises to your left are the old town. Built in traditional style it includes residentials, shops, restaurants and even a souk(open air market).The wide road furthest to the left on the picture are the Burj Dubai boulevard "inspired by the great boulverds and streets of the world" as they put it on the website and it will be accessible by both vehicles as well as pedestrians. Worth mentioning are also the Burj Dubai lake park, the green extension out in the lake in which the office people of the towering "the business hub" in behind can have their lunch if the heat allows them to.

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Under Construction Burj Dubai pictures from the Dubai web cam.

As of 17/10/2007:

a burj dubai picture
The cladding is going up now.


28/08/2007: Still seeming to keep the schedule.


10/08/2007: ~150 something floors(and counting).


19/05/07: The cladding of the skyscraper is going up.


09/12/06: 81 storeys, Burj dubai is raising at
a speed of 7 days per floor.


23/11/06: A workforce of up to 3500 men are working on the
construction site of the tallest building in the world.

Picture Courtesy to: MCOnet International(Imre
Solt), MCOnet Dubai: dubai.mconet.biz.

 

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