Interesting Facts About Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa (Arabic: برج خليفة‎, "Khalifa tower"), known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure in the world, at 829.8 m (2,722 ft).

Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010, and is part of the new 2 km2 (490-acre) development called Downtown Dubai at the 'First Interchange' along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai's main business district. The tower's architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago, with Adrian Smith as chief architect, and Bill Baker as chief structural engineer. The primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea.

Basic Facts

• Burj Khalifa is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
• It’s 828 metres tall (2,717 feet).
• It was officially opened on Jan 4, 2010.
• It was previously known as Burj Dubai.
• Burj means Tower in Arabic language.
• It’s renamed after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi.

World Record

• Tallest man-made structure ever – previously Poland’s Warsaw Radio Mast (647m).
• Building with most floors (160) – previously USA’s World Trade Center (110).
• Highest elevator installation.
• Highest outdoor observation deck (~440m)
• Highest mosque at 158th floor.
• Highest (insert here) which requires another long list to be completed ;p
• Fastest elevators at speed of 64km/h, or 18m/s.
• It would take just a minute to reach from ground level to top floor.

Architecture Facts

• Burj Dubai has more than 162 floors.
• It has 49 office floors.
• It houses 1044 residential apartments.
• It has a floor area of 334,000 square metres.
• There’s 57 lifts in the tower.
• There’s 28,261 of glass-panels on the exterior of the tower.
• Its top spire can be seen from 95km afar.
• The architecture features a triple-lobed footprint, an abstraction of the Hymenocallis flower.
• The Y-shaped floor plan aims to maximize views of the Gulf.
• Over 1,000 pieces of art from prominent Middle Eastern and international artists will adorn the tower and the surrounding Emaar Boulevard.

Environmental Facts

• The tower’s peak electricity demand is estimated at 50MVA, equivalent to roughly 500,000 100-watt light bulbs.
• It’s expected to use an average of 946,000 litres of water each day.
• During peak cooling conditions, the tower will require around 12,500 tons of cooling, equivalent to the cooling capacity of about 10,000 tons of melting ice.

Construction Facts

• Construction began in September 2004.
• The tower’s architect and engineer is Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (Chicago).
• The main constructor is Emaar Properties, a joint venture by Korea’s Samsung C&T, Belgium’s Besix and UAE’s Arabtec.
• The construction project manager is Turner Construction Company.
• Bill Baker is the chief structural engineer.
• Adrian Smith is consulting design partner.
• It took some 22 million man-hours to be completed.
• On downside, foreign construction workers were pay as little as $4 per day.
• Over 45,000 cubic-metres of concrete, weighing more than 110,000 tonnes, were used.
• Concrete used was enough to lay a 2,065km-long pavement; and equivalent to the weight of 100,000 elephants.
• Total weight of aluminium used is equivalent to that of five A380 aircraft.
• Total length of stainless steel bull nose fins used is equal to 293 times the height of France’s Eiffel Tower.
• The foundations were dug to depths of 50m.

Financial Figures

• Total cost estimated at US$1.5 billion.
• The price for the offices spaces reached as high as US$4,000 per sq ft.
• Residential spaces as high as US$3,500 per sq ft.
• The building is part of the a 490-acre flagship development called Downtown Burj Khalifa.

All the facts and figures are collected and manage by Muhammad Muzammil, if you like my post than please give your comments. Thank you for reading.