Burj Dubai History

Burj Khalifa:-

Burj Khalifa (Arabic:"Khalifa Tower"), known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper  in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 828 m (2,717 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) flagship 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 (now at his own firm) as chief architect, and Bill Baker as chief structural engineer. The primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea. In June 2010, Burj Khalifa was the recipient of the 2010 Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa award by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

The total cost for the project was about US$1.5 billion; and for the entire 'Downtown Dubai', US$20 billion. In March 2009, Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Chairman of the project's developer, Emaar Properties, said office space pricing at Burj Khalifa reached US$4,000 per sq ft (over US$43,000 per m2) and the Armani Residences, also in Burj Khalifa, sold for US$3,500 per sq ft (over US$37,500 per m2).

The project's completion coincided with the global financial crisis of 2007–2010, and with vast overbuilding in the country, led to high vacancies and foreclosures. With Dubai mired in debt from its huge ambitions, the government was forced to seek multi-billion dollar bailouts from its oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi. Subsequently, in a surprise move at its opening ceremony, the tower was renamed Burj Khalifa, said to honor the UAE President, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his crucial support.

Conception:- Burj Khalifa has been designed to be the centrepiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, nine hotels such as The Address Downtown Dubai, 3 hectares  (7.4 acres) of parkland, at least 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and the 12-hectare (30-acre) man-made Burj Khalifa Lake.

The building has returned the location of Earth's tallest free-standing structure to the Middle East — where the Great Pyramid of Giza claimed this achievement for almost four millennia before being surpassed in 1311 by Lincoln Cathedral in England.The decision to build Burj Khalifa is reportedly based on the government's decision to diversify from an oil-based economy to one that is service- and tourism-oriented. According to officials, it is necessary for projects like Burj Khalifa to be built in the city to garner more international recognition, and hence investment. "He (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum) wanted to put Dubai on the map with something really sensational," said Jacqui Josephson, a tourism and VIP delegations executive at Nakheel Properties.

Height:-

Current records:-

# Tallest skyscraper to top of spire: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously Taipei 101 – 509.2 m/1,671 ft)
# Tallest structure ever built: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously Warsaw radio mast – 646.38 m/2,121 ft)
# Tallest extant structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously KVLY-TV mast – 628.8 m/2,063 ft)
# Tallest freestanding structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously CN Tower – 553.3 m/1,815 ft)
# Building with most floors: 160 (previously Willis Tower – 108)
# World's highest elevator installation, situated inside a rod at the very top of the building
# World's fastest elevators at speed of 64 km/h (40 mph) or 18 m/s (59 ft/s) (previously Taipei 101 – 16.83 m/s)
# Highest vertical concrete pumping (for a building): 606 m (1,988 ft) (previously Taipei 101 – 449.2 m/1,474 ft)
# Highest vertical concrete pumping (for any construction): 606 m (1,988 ft) (previously Riva del Garda Hydroelectric Power Plant – 532 m/1,745 ft)
# The first world's tallest structure in history to include residential space
# Highest outdoor observation deck in the world (124th floor) at 442 m (1,450 ft)
# World's highest mosque (located on the 158th floor)
# World's highest installation of an aluminium and glass façade, at a height of 512 m (1,680 ft)
# World's highest swimming pool (76th floor)

 History of height increases:-

There are unconfirmed reports of several planned height increases since its inception. Originally proposed as a virtual clone of the 560 m (1,837 ft) Grollo Tower proposal for Melbourne, Australia's Docklands waterfront development, the tower was redesigned with an original design by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) discussed below.  Marshall Strabala, an SOM architect who worked on the project until 2006, late 2008 said that Burj Khalifa was designed to be 808 m (2,651 ft) tall.
The design architect, Adrian Smith, felt that the uppermost section of the building did not culminate elegantly with the rest of the structure, so he sought and received approval to increase it to the current height.[citation needed] It has been explicitly stated that this change did not include any added floors, which is fitting with Smith's attempts to make the crown more slender.

Delay:-

 Emaar Properties announced on 9 June 2008 that construction of Burj Khalifa was delayed by upgraded finishes and would be completed only in September 2009. An Emaar spokesperson said "The luxury finishes that were decided on in 2004, when the tower was initially conceptualized, is now being replaced by upgraded finishes. The design of the apartments has also been enhanced to make them more aesthetically attractive and functionally superior. A revised completion date of 2 December 2009 was then announced.  However, Burj Khalifa was opened on 4 January 2010.