Dubai's Record-High Tower Ready for the Public
Burj Dubai (Arabic: برج دبي "Dubai Tower") is a supertall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 818 m (2,684 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009 and the building officially opened on 4 January 2010.[1][2]The building is part of the 2 km2 (0.8 sq mi) flagship development called Downtown Burj Dubai at the "First Interchange" along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai's main business district. The tower's architect is Adrian Smith, who worked with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) until 2006.[6][7] The Chicago-based architecture and engineering firm SOM was in charge of the project design.[6] The primary builder is a joint venture of South Korean Samsung C&T, who also built the Taipei 101 and Petronas Twin Towers.[8], Besix and Arabtec. Turner Construction Company was chosen as the construction project manager [9]. Under UAE law, the Contractor and the Engineer of Record are jointly and severally liable for the performance of Burj Dubai. Therefore, by adoption of SOM’s design and by being appointed as Architect and Engineer of Record, Hyder Consulting is legally the Design Consultant for the tower.
The total budget for the Burj Dubai project is about US $4.1 billion; and for the entire new "Downtown Dubai", US $20 billion.[10] Mohamed Ali Alabbar, the CEO of Emaar Properties, speaking at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat 8th World Congress, said that the price of office space at Burj Dubai had reached US $4,000 per sq ft (over US $43,000 per m2) and that the Armani Residences, also in Burj Dubai, were selling for US $3,500 per sq ft (over US $37,500 per m2).[11]
| Burj Dubai | |
|---|---|
 Burj Dubai on 23 November 2009. | |
| General information | |
| Location | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Status | Complete |
| Groundbreaking | 21 September 2004 |
| Opening | 4 January 2010[1] |
| Use | Mixed-use |
| Height | |
| Antenna or spire | 818 m (2,684 ft)[2] |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 160 habitable floors[3] |
| Floor area | 334,000 m2 (3,595,100 sq ft) |
| Companies involved | |
| Architect | Skidmore, Owings and Merrill |
| Structural engineer | Bill Baker at SOM[5] |
| Contractor | Joint venture between Samsung C&T, Besix; and Arabtec Supervision Consultant Engineer & Architect of Record Hyder Consulting Consutruction Project Manager Turner Construction Grocon[4] Planning Bauer AG and Middle East Foundations[4] Lift contractor Otis[4] VT consultant Lerch Bates[4] |
| Developer | Emaar |
Height
Timeline
- January 2004: Excavation commences.[12]
- February 2004: Piling starts.[12]
- 21 September 2004: Emaar contractors (Samsung-Besix-Arabtec JV) awarded construction.[13]
- March 2005: Structure of Burj Dubai starts rising.[12]
- June 2006: Level 50 is reached.[12]
- February 2007: Surpasses the Sears Tower as the building with the most floors.
- 13 May 2007: Sets record for vertical concrete pumping on any building at 452 m (1,483 ft), surpassing the 449.2 m (1,474 ft) to which concrete was pumped during the construction of Taipei 101, while Burj dubai reached 130 floor.[12][14]
- 21 July 2007: Surpasses Taipei 101, whose height of 509.2 m (1,671 ft) made it the world’s tallest building, and level 141 reached.[12][15]
- 12 August 2007: Surpasses the Sears Tower antenna, which stands 527.3 m (1,730 ft).
- 12 September 2007: At 555.3 m (1,822 ft), becomes the world's tallest freestanding structure, surpassing the CN Tower in Toronto, and level 150 reached.[12][16]
- 7 April 2008: At 629 m (2,064 ft), surpasses the KVLY-TV Mast to become the tallest man-made structure, level 160 reached.[12][17]
- 17 June 2008: Emaar announces that Burj Dubai's height is over 636 m (2,087 ft) and that its final height will not be given until it is completed in September 2009.[18]
- 1 September 2008: Height tops 688 m (2,257 ft), making it the tallest man-made structure ever built, surpassing the previous record-holder, the Warsaw Radio Mast in Konstantynów, Poland.[19]
- 17 January 2009: Topped out at 818 m (2,684 ft).[20]
- 1 October 2009: Emaar announces that the exterior of the building is completed.[21]
- 4 January 2010: Burj Dubai's official launch ceremony is held and Burj Dubai is opened.[22]
Current records
- Tallest skyscraper to top of spire: 818 m (2,684 ft) (previously Taipei 101 - 509.2 m (1,671 ft))
- Tallest structure ever built: 818 m (2,684 ft) (previously Warsaw radio mast – 646.38 m (2,121 ft))
- Tallest structure: 818 m (2,684 ft) (previously KVLY-TV mast – 628.8 m (2,063 ft))
- Tallest freestanding structure: 818 m (2,684 ft) (previously CN Tower – 553.3 m (1,815 ft))
- Building with most floors: 160 (previously both 1 & 2 World Trade Center – 110)[23][3]
- World's highest elevator installation[24]
- Worlds fastest elevators at speed of 64 km/h (40 mph) or 18 m/s (59 ft/s)[24] (previously Taipei 101 – 16.83 m/s)
- Highest vertical concrete pumping (for a building): 605 m (1,985 ft) (previously Taipei 101 – 449.2 m (1,474 ft))
- Highest vertical concrete pumping (for any construction): 605 m (1,985 ft)[25]
- The first world's tallest structure in history to include residential space[2]
- Highest outdoor observation deck in the world[26]
- Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world
- Tallest service elevator in the world
- World's highest installation of an aluminium and glass façade, at a height of 512 m (1,680 ft)[12]
History of height increases
Though unconfirmed, Burj Dubai has been rumoured to have undergone several planned height increases since its inception. Originally proposed as a virtual clone of the 560 m (1,837 ft) Grollo Tower proposal for Melbourne, Australia's Docklands waterfront development, the tower was redesigned with an original design by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill discussed below. Marshall Strabala, an SOM architect who worked on the project until 2006, recently said that Burj Dubai was designed to be 808 m (2,650 ft) tall.[27]
The design architect, 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 it to the currently planned height. It has been explicitly stated that this change did not include any added floors, which is fitting with Smith's attempts to make the crown more slender.[28] However, the top of the tower has a steel frame structure, unlike the lower portion's reinforced concrete.
Delay
Emaar Properties announced on 9 June 2008 that construction of Burj Dubai was delayed by upgraded finishes and would be completed only in September 2009.[18] An Emaar spokesperson said "The luxury finishes that were decided on in 2004, when the tower was initially conceptualized, is now being replaced by upgraded finishes. The design of the apartments has also been enhanced to make them more aesthetically attractive and functionally superior."[29] A revised completion date of 2 December 2009 was then announced.[30]Architecture and design
The tower is designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, which also designed the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois and 1 World Trade Center in New York City, among numerous other famous high-rises. The building resembles the bundled tube form of the Willis Tower, but is not a tube structure. Its design is reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's vision for The Illinois, a mile high skyscraper designed for Chicago.
According to Marshall Strabala, an SOM architect who worked on the building's design team, Burj Dubai was designed based on the 73-floor Tower Palace Three, an all-residential building in Seoul, South Korea. In its early planning, Burj Dubai was intended to be entirely residential.[27]
Subsequent to the original design by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Emaar Properties chose Hyder Consulting to be the Supervision Consultant, Engineer and Architect of Record, for its structural, facade and MEP engineering capability (MEP - mechanical, electrical and plumbing, and encompasses all fire and life safety systems within the building). In this role Hyder Consulting reengineered structural, facades and MEP systems to suit the contractor’s and local authority requirements. Hyder Consulting was also responsible for the geotechinical design of Burj Dubai's foundations with Hyder's own geotechnical specialist, Grahame Bunce heading up a design team that included the world-renowned soil mechanics expert Harry Poulos in a peer-review role. Emaar Properties has also engaged GHD,[31] an international multidisciplinary consulting firm, act as an independent verification and testing authority for concrete and steelwork.
The design of Burj Dubai is derived from patterning systems[clarification needed] embodied in Islamic architecture. The design architect Adrian Smith has said the triple-lobed footprint of the building was inspired by the flower Hymenocallis.[32] 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 spiralling pattern, decreasing the cross section of the tower as it reaches toward the sky. There are 27 terraces in Burj Dubai. 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. Viewed from above or from the base, the form also evokes the onion domes of Islamic architecture. During the design process, engineers rotated the building 120 degrees from its original layout to reduce stress from prevailing winds. At its tallest point, the tower sways a total of 1.5 m (4.9 ft).[33]
To wash the windows of the 160 floors of habitable space, a horizontal track has been installed on the exterior of Burj Dubai at three levels 40, 73 and 109. Each track holds a 1.5 tonne bucket machine which moves horizontally and then vertically using heavy cables. Above level 109, up to tier 27 traditional cradles from davits are used. The top of the spire, however, is reserved for specialist window cleaners, who brave the heights and high winds dangling by ropes to clean and inspect the top of the pinnacle.[34]Under normal conditions, when all building maintenance units will be operational, it will take three to four months to clean the entire exterior facade.[35]
The spire of burj dubai is composed of more than 4,000 tonnes of structural steel. The central pinnacle pipe weighing 350 tonnes was constructed from inside the building and jacked to its full height of 143 metres using a strand jack system. The spire houses plant and facilitates for communications equipments.[35]
More than 1,000 pieces of art will adorn the interiors of Burj Dubai, while the residential lobby of Burj Dubai will have the artwork of 196 bronze and brass alloy cymbals representing the 196 countries of the world. The visitors in this lobby will be able to hear a distinct timbre as the cymbals, plated with 18-carat gold, are struck by dripping water, intended to mimic the sound of water falling on leaves.[36]
The exterior cladding of Burj Dubai consists of 142,000 m2 (1,528,000 sq ft) of reflective glazing, and aluminium and textured stainless steel spandrel panels with vertical tubular fins. The cladding system is designed to withstand Dubai's extreme summer temperatures. Additionally, at its projected height the exterior temperature at the top of the building will be 6 °C (11 °F) cooler than at its base.[37]
Over 26,000 glass panels, were used in the exterior cladding of Burj Dubai. Over 300 cladding specialists from China were brought in for the cladding work on the tower.[35]
The hotel interior will be decorated by Giorgio Armani. An Armani Hotel, the first of four by Armani, will occupy 15 of the lower 39 floors.[38] Floors through to 108 will 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 will be located on the 76th floor of the tower. Corporate offices and suites will fill most of the remaining floors, except for a 123rd floor lobby and 124th floor (about 440 m (1,444 ft)) indoor/outdoor observation deck. Burj Dubai is expected to hold up to 25,000 people at any one time.[39] A total of 57 elevators and 8 escalators are installed[35], the fastest rising and descending at up to 10 m/s (33 ft/s).[40] Engineers had considered installing the world's first triple-deck elevators, but the final design calls for double-deck elevators.[2]
The graphic design identity work for the Burj Dubai is the responsibility of Brash Brands, who are based in Dubai. Design of the global launch events, communications, and visitors centers[41] for the Burj Dubai have also been created by Brash Brands as well as the roadshow exhibition for the Armani Residences, which are part of the Armani Hotel within the Burj Dubai, which toured Milan, London, Jeddah, Moscow and Delhi.[42]
Dubai Fountain
Main article: Dubai Fountain
Outside, and at a cost of Dh 800 million (US $217 million), a record-setting fountain system was designed by WET Design, the California-based company responsible for the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel Lake in Las Vegas. Illuminated by 6,600 lights and 50 colored projectors, it is 275 m (900 ft) long and shoots water 150 m (490 ft) into the air, accompanied by a range of classical to contemporary Arabic and world music.[43] On 26 October 2008 Emaar announced that based on results of a naming contest the fountain would be called the Dubai Fountain.[44]Construction
Concept of the monthly construction
The primary structural system of Burj Dubai is reinforced concrete. Over 45,000 m3 (58,900 cu yd) of concrete, weighing more than 110,000 tonnes (120,000 ST; 110,000 LT) were used to construct the concrete and steel foundation, which features 192 piles,with each pile is 1.5 meter diameter x 43 meter long buried more than 50 m (164 ft) deep.[2] When completed, Burj Dubai's construction will have used 330,000 m3 (431,600 cu yd) of concrete and 55,000 tonnes of steel rebar, and construction will have taken 22 million man-hours.[6] A high density, low permeability concrete was used in the foundations of Burj Dubai. A cathodic protection system under the mat is used to minimize any detrimental effects from corrosive chemicals in local ground water.[35]
As construction of the tower progressed, it became increasingly difficult to vertically pump the thousands of cubic metres of concrete that were required. The previous record for pumping concrete on any project was set during the extension of the Riva del Garda Hydroelectric Power Plant in Italy in 1994, when concrete was pumped to a height of 532 m (1,745 ft). Burj Dubai exceeded this height on 19 August 2007, and as of 8 November 2007 concrete was pumped to a delivery height of 605 m (1,985 ft).[46]
In Burj Dubai, concrete was pumped to the 156th floor, while the remaining structure was built of lighter steel. Burj Dubai is highly compartmentalised; pressurized, air-conditioned refuge floors are located approximately every 35 floors where people can shelter on their long walk down to safety in case of an emergency or fire.[35][47]
Special mixes of concrete are made to withstand the extreme pressures of the massive building weight; as is typical with reinforced concrete construction, each batch of concrete used was tested to ensure it could withstand certain pressures.
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 temperatures that can reach 50 °C (122 °F). 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 is cooler and the humidity is higher. A cooler concrete mixture cures evenly throughout and is therefore less likely to set too quickly and crack. Any significant cracks could have put the entire project in jeopardy.
The unique design and engineering challenges of building Burj Dubai have been featured in a number of television documentaries, including the Big, Bigger, Biggest series on the National Geographic and Five channels, and the Mega Builders series on the Discovery Channel.
Floor plans
The following is a breakdown of floors.[35]| Floors | Use |
|---|---|
| 160-206 | Mechanical |
| 156-159 | Communication and Broadcast |
| 155 | Mechanical |
| 139-154 | Corporate Suites |
| 136-138 | Mechanical |
| 125-135 | Corporate Suites |
| 124 | Observatory |
| 123 | Sky Lobby |
| 122 | "At.mosphere" restaurant |
| 111-121 | Corporate Suites |
| 109-110 | Mechanical |
| 77-108 | Residential |
| 76 | Sky Lobby |
| 44-72 | Residential |
| 43 | Sky Lobby |
| 40-42 | Mechanical |
| 38-39 | Armani Hotel suites |
| 19-37 | Residences |
| 17-18 | Mechanical |
| 9-16 | Armani Residences |
| 1-8 | Armani Hotel |
| Ground | Armani Hotel |
| Concourse | Armani Hotel |
| B1-B2 | Parking, Mechanical |
Labour controversy
Further information: Human rights in the United Arab Emirates
Burj Dubai is being built primarily by immigrants from South Asia.[48] Press reports indicated in 2006 that skilled carpenters at the site earned UK£4.34 a day, and labourers earned UK£2.84.[48]On 21 March 2006, about 2,500 workers upset over buses that were delayed for the end of their shifts protested, damaging cars, offices, computers, and construction equipment.[48] A Dubai Interior Ministry official said the rioters caused almost UK£500,000 in damage.[48] Most of the workers involved in the riot returned the following day but refused to work.[48]
As of 17 June 2008 there are 7,500 skilled workers employed in the construction of Burj Dubai.[18]
Purpose
Burj Dubai has been designed to be the centerpiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, nine hotels such as the Burj Dubai Lake Hotel & Serviced Apartments, 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of parkland, at least 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and the 12-hectare (30-acre) man-made Burj Dubai Lake.The building has returned the title of Earth's tallest free-standing structure to the Middle East — a title not held by the larger region since 1311 when Lincoln Cathedral in England, UK surpassed the height of the Great Pyramid of Giza, which had held the title for almost four millennia.
The decision to build Burj Dubai is reportedly based on the government's decision to diversify from an oil-based economy to one that is service- and tourism-oriented. According to officials, it is necessary for projects like Burj Dubai to be built in the city to garner more international recognition, and hence investment. "He [Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum] wanted to put Dubai on the map with something really sensational," said Jacqui Josephson, a tourism and VIP delegations executive at Nakheel Properties.[49]
Progression of the construction of Burj Dubai
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DUBAI — Dubai was set to open the world’s tallest building amid tight security Monday night, celebrating the tower as a bold accomplishment on the world stage despite the city-state’s shaky financial footing.
But the final height of the Burj Dubai — Arabic for Dubai Tower — remained a closely guarded secret on the eve of its opening. At a reported height of 818 meters, or 2,684 feet, it long ago overtopped its nearest rival, the Taipei 101 in Taiwan.
The Burj’s record-seeking developers did not stop there.
The building boasts the most stories and highest occupied floor of any building in the world and ranks as the world’s tallest structure, beating out a television mast in North Dakota. Its observation deck — on floor 124 — also sets a record.
“We weren’t sure how high we could go,” said Bill Baker, the building’s structural engineer, who was in Dubai for the inauguration. “It was kind of an exploration. A learning experience.”
Mr. Baker, of the Chicago architecture and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, said early designs for the Burj had it edging out the world’s previous record-holder, the Taipei 101, by about 10 meters. The Taiwan tower rises 508 meters.
Dubai’s ruler was scheduled to open the tapering metal and glass spire with a fireworks display Monday evening.
Security was expected to be tight. Local newspapers quoted Maj. Gen. Mohammed Eid al-Mansouri, head of the protective security and emergency unit for the Dubai Police, as saying that more than 1,000 security personnel, including plainclothes police officers and sharpshooters, would be deployed to secure the site for the opening.
Work on the Burj Dubai began in 2004 and continued rapidly. At times, new floors were being added almost every three days, reflecting Dubai’s raging push to reshape itself over a few years from a small-time desert outpost into a cosmopolitan urban giant packed with skyscrapers. By January 2007, thousands of laborers, many of them brought in on temporary contracts from India, had completed 100 stories.
The finished product has more than 160 floors. That is more than 50 stories more than the Willis Tower in Chicago, the tallest building in the United States, formerly known as the Sears Tower.
At their peak, some apartments in the Burj were selling for more than $21,000 per square meter, or $1,900 per square foot, though they now can go for less than half that, said Heather Wipperman Amiji, chief executive of the Dubai real estate consulting firm Investment Boutique.
Besides luxury apartments and offices, the Burj will be home to a hotel designed by Giorgio Armani.
It is also the centerpiece of a 202-hectare, or 500-acre, development that officials hope will become a new central residential and commercial district in this sprawling and often disconnected city. It is flanked by dozens of smaller but brand-new skyscrapers and the largest shopping mall in the Middle East.
That layout — as the core of a lower-rise skyline — lets the Burj stand out prominently against the horizon. It is visible across dozens of kilometers of rolling sand dunes outside Dubai. From the air, the spire appears as an almost solitary, slender needle reaching high into the sky.
The Burj’s opening comes at a tough time for Dubai’s economy. Property prices in newer parts of the sheikdom have fallen by nearly half over the past year. The city-state turned to its richer neighbor Abu Dhabi for a series of bailouts totaling $25 billion in 2009 to help cover debts amassed by a network of state-linked companies. Burj’s developer, Emaar, is itself partly owned by the government, but is not among the companies known to have received emergency cash.
Emaar has said that the entire Downtown Burj Dubai development, which includes the tower, will cost $20 billion to build.
Sales of properties around the Burj are meant to help pay for the tower itself, which analysts say is unlikely to be profitable on its own.
Jan Klerks, research and communications manager for the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which tracks claims for the world’s tallest structures, said the building’s real value might be that it was the “biggest city marketing campaign” Dubai could have come up with.
“Put your name and that of the Burj Dubai on an envelope, and no postal service in the world will have problems delivering the mail,” he said.
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