Burj Dubai

Burj Dubai is set to be the world's tallest building and the centerpiece of the Gulf regions most prestigious urban development, entitled Downtown Dubai.

The Arabic meaning for the word Burj is 'tower', which gives Burj Dubai a meaning of 'Dubai Tower' or 'Tower of Dubai'. Its exact height hasn't been disclosed but it has been confirmed that it will be over 700 meters tall and its design was influenced by the six petal desert flower.

Burj Dubai is being constructed on Sheikh Zayed Road, just after the first interchange (Defense Roundabout) and it will be surrounded by a man-made lake. It will also be surrounded by a combination of residential, commercial, hotel, entertainment and leisure outlets, along with open green spaces, water features, and pedestrian boulevards.

The Burj Al Arab is a futuristic architectural marvel towering over the Gulf. Its design is stunning. Burj Al Arab is shaped like a billowing spinnaker sail. Its height is staggering - the hotel measures 332 meters, making it one of the world's highest buildings.

The Burj Al Arab means "The Arabian Tower" in Arabic, is built on a tiny man-made sea island, a mere football kick from the Dubai mainland. A short causeway links the hotel to the Dubai mainland. The skyscraping Burj Al Arab is firmly rooted. Its foundation pillars reach 40 meters underneath the seabed.

Facts

• 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 Sears 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.
• Designed by Adrian D. Smith, FAIA, RIBA Design Partner at Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP.
• "Burj" is Arabic for "Tower".
• Burj Dubai will become the world's tallest building, along with the world's tallest man-made structure when it is completed.
• The official height has not been released, and remains secret. The total height of 705 meters is subject to change.
• 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 foundation piles are 150 ft. deep.
• 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.