The Tallest Building In The World — Burj Khalifa
The ultimate symbol of glitz, glamor and the over-the-top excess for which Dubai is known — Burj Khalifa, is grandiose super scraper. This lavish manmade structure holds several world records including: ‘tallest building’, ‘highest number of stories’, ‘highest occupied floor’, ‘elevator with the longest travel distance’, ‘tallest service elevator’ and ‘tallest free-standing structure’.
• The Tallest Building In The World
The Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure and building in the world since 2009. Its cloud-piercing height is measured 828 meters (2716.5 feet). On a clear day, the tip of the sphere of the Burj Khalifa can be seen from up to 96 kilometers (60 miles) away. You can also watch the sunset twice from the Burj Khalifa, one from a lower floor and again from the observation deck.
Laid end to end, the Burj Khalifa’s pieces would stretch over a quarter of the way around the world.
• The Highest Number of Stories In The World
The building is 163 stories high, and only one floor is located below the ground. The rooms on the 160th-story of the building are the highest habitable floors in the world.
• The Highest Occupied Floor In The World
Height of the floors occupied by people is 584.5 meters (1918 feet). Besides, the building houses the world’s highest nightclub (on 144th floor) as well as the world’s highest restaurant (on 122nd floor).
• Elevator With The Longest Travel Distance In The World
The Burj Khalifa has the longest single running elevator, which is 140 floors, situates inside a rod at the very top of the building. This elevator is also the third fastest elevator in the world running 10 meters per second. So, it takes only one minute to reach the observation deck on the 124th floor from the ground floor.
The building contains 57 elevators and escalators. The elevator system is specially designed to control evacuation during emergency situations.
• The Largest Dancing Fountain System In The World
The Dubai Fountain, the fountain in front of the Burj Khalifa, holds the record for the world’s largest dancing fountain system. This fountain dances every 30 minutes from 6pm Wednesday through Sunday, accompanied by 6,600 lights and 50 colored projectors and a range of music, in an area approximately as big as two football fields. It’s also the second largest choreographed fountain.
The water supply for the fountain, irrigating of the nearby park and the cooling system are all taken care of with 15 million gallons of water collected annually via a condensate collection system.
• The Second Highest Outdoor Observation Deck In The World
The second highest observation deck, featuring an electronic telescope that allows visitors to view the surrounding landscape in real-time as well as previously taken images, is found at 555m (1,821 ft) of the building.
• The Second Highest Swimming Pool In The World
Located on the 76th floor, the zero-entry swimming pool is housed in the sky lobby. The best view of Dubai can be seen from this balcony based pool which has a small, private and adjacent sundeck.
• Purpose
Burj Khalifa is a mixed-use building consisting of residential, commercial, hospitality ventures and the tower. Inside the building, there are more than 1000 piece of art collected from some of the world’s best-known artists.
• Material And Construction
The Burj Khalifa was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merill, (SOM) an American architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. The design of the tower was inspired by the shape of a Hymenocallis Flower or a Spider Lilly which is known for its long petals extending from its center. The similarity can be seen from above.
It took more than 110,000 tons of concrete and 55,000 tons of steel rebar. The exterior of the Burj Khalifa is covered by 26,000 glass panels, all cut individually by hand and designed to withstand the high temperature. At the peak of construction, more than 12,000 international workers were on site per day logging a collective 22 million man-hours during the six years period of construction. The whole project cost of building the Burj Khalifa was 1.5 billion dollars, with the tow itself costing 1 billion dollars.
The Burj Khalifa, located in thriving downtown Dubai, is a true marvel of architectural genius.
