The world’s tallest tower, developed by Emaar Properties, was unveiled to a crowd of thousands and the world in a crescendo of fireworks, lasers and fountain displays on January 4, 2010.
The official height of the tower, unveiled as ‘Burj Khalifa’, was announced as 828 m.
WAN - World Architecture Network, and Gulf News
Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world according to the three main criteria of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). The CTBUH ranks the world’s tallest buildings based on ‘Height to Architectural Top,’ ‘Height to Highest Occupied Floor’ and ‘Height to Tip.’
Burj Khalifa achieved the distinction of being the world’s tallest structure – surpassing the KVLY-TV mast (628.8 metres; 2,063 ft) in North Dakota, USA – 1,325 days after excavation work started in January 2004.
The tower also beats the 31-year-old record of CN Tower, which at 553.33 metres (1,815.5 ft) had been the world’s tallest free-standing structure on land since 1976.
Burj Khalifa employs a record-breaking 330,000 cubic metres of concrete, 39,000 metric tonnes of steel rebar and 142,000 square metres of glass; and it took 22 million man hours to build.
Other world records for Burj Khalifa include the highest occupied floor in the world, at over 550 metres; the highest outdoor observation deck in the world – at the top on level 124; and the tallest service elevator, which travels to a height of 504 m
Burj Khalifa is an example of collaboration on a global scale, and the tremendous positive energy that can be generated when people from all over the world come together to work towards a common goal. Thousands of professionals and skilled workers from around the world worked on this once-in-a-lifetime project.
More than 60 of the world’s leading consultants including South Korea’s Samsung Corporation and New York-based Turner Construction International realised the design for Burj Khalifa of Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Burj Khalifa employed the latest advances in wind engineering, structural engineering, structural systems, construction materials and methods.
Burj Khalifa is the focal point of the 500-acre ‘mega-project’ by Emaar Properties, described as the new heart of Dubai.
