Burj Khalifa is the tallest skyscraper with residential, commercial and scientific uses. The construction of this megalithic and marvelous skyscraper was started on 12th January 2004 and was officially opened on 4th January 2010.
It is eight hundred and twenty-eight meters (2716.5 ft) in height with more than 200 levels and has 163 habitable levels. It gives a panoramic view of Dubai. It has world’s highest elevator situated inside a rod at the top of the building. Of the 163 floors the public can go up to 154th floor. On the 148th floor, there is a sky observatory, the world’s highest observation deck at a height of 556 meters or 1823 feet. Business celebrities and film stars (like Shilpa Shetty and Mohan Lal) own properties in Burj Khalifa.
Burj Khalifa is praised as a “Vertical
city” and as “a living wonder.” It has nine hundred residential units (one,
two, three and four bed-room flats) from 19 to 108 levels, and nearly ten
thousand people can stay there. It has 16,000 bath rooms in flats, offices and
public areas. It is three times the height of Eiffel Tower in Paris. Nearly
seventeen billion people visit this building every year and 621 million dollars
is earned as ticket revenue per year.
EMAAR Properties, the world’s largest real estate company is the master developer of Burj Khalifa. Adrian Smith, Chief Engineer of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill company in Chicago designed this tower. He is also the architect of Sears (Willis) Tower in Chicago. This design was derived from the Islamic architectural design of the great mosque of Samarra in Iraq and from the shape of the desert flower, Hymeno Callisor or spider lily. William Frazier Baker, an American structural engineer planned the unique hexagonal core structure of this tallest skyscraper. Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ( 7 Sep.1948-13 May 2022), Leader of Abu Dhabi and former President of U.A.E. provided aid in building this structure. As a token of honor and gratitude, this building was named as Burj Khalifa which means “King’s Tower.”
In this tower are located hotels, restaurants,
offices and residences. It has nine hundred residential units, and ten thousand
people can stay here. Observation decks for tourists are at 124, 125 and 148
levels. Level 125 shows the special features of Arab art and culture. The
visiting hours are from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m. on weekdays and from 5.00 a.m.
to 12.00 a.m. during weekends. In the evening Burj Khalifa lit with laser lights sparkles with changing colors with a vibrant glow.
Located at
the foot of the Burj Khalifa there is the Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest fountain.
The fountain jets up to 22,000 gallons of water up to a height of 140 meters at
a time. This fountain was constructed in 2009 on the 12-acre Burj Khalifa Lake.
It illuminates the surroundings with 6,600 lights and 50 colored projectors. This
colorful musical fountain works every thirty minutes from 1.00 p.m. to 1.30
p.m. and in the evenings from 6.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m. daily. On Fridays the
fountain works from 1.30 p.m. to 2.00 p.m. only. All shows at the fountain are
free of charge.
The famous
“Armani Hotel” designed by fashion icon, Georgio Armani, occupies up to eighth
floor with suites on 38th and 39th levels that is eleven
floors. Adjacent to this tower is seen
“Dubai mall”. Burj Khalifa is cleaned four times a year. It takes three months
to complete one cleaning cycle.
The modular spiraling Y-shaped plan helps to reduce the wind force on the tower. The telescopic spire is 200 meters long and houses communications equipment. Nearly four thousand tons of structural steel was used in construction of the telescopic spire. The top thirty floors contain electrical sub-stations, water tank pumps, air-handling units which operate the tower. The top four floors are meant for communication systems. The town’s water system supplies 9,46,000 liters of water daily to this tower. Fire safety and speed evacuation measures are taken as precautionary measures. In this tower there are 57 elevators and eight escalators.
The Dubai Creek Harbor Observation tower of 928
meters height (2,717 ft) is going to be built in Dubai and work is now in
progress. It will have 210 floors and will be higher than Burj Khalifa by 100
meters. The Jeddah Tower (3308 ft) 1008 meters high in Saudi Arabia under
construction will become the tallest building structure in future. It will be 173
meters or 568 feet taller than the Burj Khalifa (828 meters or 2716 ft).
Burj Khalifa is truly one of the wonderful marvels created by masterminds which displays their talent, art and advanced technology. Burj Khalifa has become the iconic symbol reflecting Dubai's culture, technological progress, modern sophistication, tradition, commercial activism and eco-friendly development.
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12th January, 2024 Somaseshu Gutala
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