Burj Dubai

This article or section contains information about a future building which is currently under construction.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction is completed.

Information
Burj Dubai

Status	Under Construction
Groundbreaking	September 21, 2004
Est. Completion	December 30, 2008
Opening	February 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 below
Floor area	344,000 sq. m 3.7 million sq. ft.
Companies
Architect	SOM
Contractor	Samsung Constructions / BESIX / Arabtec
Developer	Emaar

The Burj Dubai (Arabic: برج دبي for "Dubai Tower") is a skyscraper currently under construction, since April 15, 2005, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at 25°11′58.34″N, 55°16′20.66″E. The lead architect is Adrian Smith of the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. 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 (2651 feet)^[1]. Based on this height, the total number of habitable floors is expected to be around 162. However, on the project's official website, a interior graphic of an elevator panel shows floor numbers up to 195. A more recent article by building subcontractor Persian Gulf Extrusions and dated September 20, 2006, states a final height "over 940 metres" or at least 3084 feet, ^[2] but this has not yet been confirmed by Emaar. This new figure is 24 metres higher than the final height rumoured on another posting on the burjdubaiskyscraper web site. As of November 30 2006, the Burj Dubai was at 90 stories (about 326.88 m) tall, is now the third tallest building in Dubai, and the twenty-second tallest building in the world. However, evidently, little in the way of curtainwall glass has been installed yet on the structure (http://www.itp.net/business/news/details.php?id=22733&category=]).

1 Size
2 Architecture and design
3 Purpose
4 Race for the top
5 Labor controversy
6 Additional images
7 Notes
8 See also
9 External links
10 Categories

Size

Burj Dubai will likely become the tallest building in the world. It will beat out the current title holder, Taipei 101 in Taiwan, as well as numerous other proposals including the Freedom Tower at New York City's World Trade Center, the Shanghai World Financial Center, Port Tower complex ( Karachi) and Chicago's Chicago Spire (formerly the Fordham Spire). In addition, it will assume the title of the world's tallest structure, surpassing the tallest freestanding structure (on land), Toronto's CN Tower, as well as the guyed KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, the latter setting a minimum height for the tower at almost 630 m.

Though unconfirmed, Burj Dubai has been through several height increases since its inception. Originally proposed as virtually a clone of the 560 m Grollo Tower proposal from Australia, the tower was soon redesigned to an original Skidmore Owings and Merrill design seen above and discussed below. This design stood approximately 705 metres tall. Contradictory information abounds regarding the official final 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. The website Burjdubaiskyscraper.com mentions a rumoured final height of 916 metres as of a posting on September 28, 2006, but this is contradicted by a September 20 posting of a GoWealthy.com article listing a height over 940 metres or 3084 feet.

The lead architect, Adrian Smith, felt that the design of the top did not culminate very well, so he sought and received approval to increase it to the currently planned height. It has been explicitly stated that this did not include an addition of more floors ^[3], 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.

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). ^[4] 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).

Purpose

The Burj Dubai has been designed to be the centre of a large-scale, mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, nine hotels, 2.5 hectares (6 acres) of parkland, 19 residential towers, and the 12 hectare Burj Dubai Lake. The complete development will cost about US$ 8 billion. Once completed, the tower will cover a total of 2 million m² (22 million ft²) of development.

The silvery glass-sheathed concrete building will restore the title of hosting the earth's tallest structure to the Middle East — a title not held by the Middle East since the Lincoln Cathedral upset the 3-millenia reign of Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza around 1300.

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. While many champion Dubai's strides at changing its core economy, others have raised questions about the necessity of building the world's tallest building in Dubai.^{[citation needed]} 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 ^[5]), or very less densely populated. However, others feel 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. ^[6].

Race for the top

Burj Dubai's main competitor now is actually proposed at a location 50 km (30 miles) 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 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 1001 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], compared to Burj Dubai's current progress rate of seven days per floor (which is expected to pick up as the tower gets closer towards the top); the entire development incorporates an Olympic stadium, residences, hotels, and retail facilities.

Labor controversy

Burj Dubai is being built primarily by immigrant engineers and workers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines. Press reports indicate that skilled carpenters at the site earn £4.34 (US$7.60) a day and labourers £2.84 (US$4.00). ^[8] ^[9] Unions were forbidden in the United Arab Emirates previously, but the government recently announced steps to allow construction unions. ^[10]

On March 21, 2006, tensions boiled over at the construction site as workers employed by Al Naboodah who were building the Dubai Mall next to Burj Dubai, rioted over low wages and poor working conditions. They damaged cars, offices, computers, and construction tools to the value of over a million dollars. At Dubai International Airport, construction workers staged a sympathy strike. News reports about the riots conflicted with each other in regards to whether or not the riots affected work at the Burj Dubai itself, with the majority of reports claiming that it did. However, the development manager for Samsung Corp., the South Korean chaebol that is chief contractor on the Burj Dubai, said construction of the skyscraper was moving ahead, and not affected by the labour dispute, in which builders on adjacent towers are asking for better pay and employment conditions.^[11] The United Arab Emirates has received considerable attention recently with regard to its labour laws. Several groups have cited widespread abuse of workers and appalling working conditions.