The Burj Khalifa
No great surprises here. The Burj Khalifa burst on to the international scene earlier this year with a massive fanfare, fireworks and festivities at the dawn of the new decade after a much anticipated build. The fanfare wasnt without merit: the building smashing almost every record in the books and by a considerable margin.
Whats not commonly know is that the Burj actually bagged several world-topping records when it was opened (see below), and setting new heights for others to surpass.
While other supertall projects, including Kuwaits kilometre high City of Silk, Jeddahs proposed Kingdom Tower (1001) and Bahrains Murjan Tower (1022m) are in the planning stages, they don’t yet exist. Even if they were to be started soon, the length of time it would take to reach the Burj Khalifa’s lofty heights means the Dubai super-structure would reserve its place at the top of the world for some time yet.
According to The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, Taipei 101, at 508m, is the next tallest skyscraper and retains the record for being the worlds tallest all-office tower. Torontos 553m landmark CN Tower, and other towers of its type, were excluded from the list because theyre not habitable buildings.The building with the highest observation deck in the world is the Shanghai World Financial Centre (at 474m). The Burj Khalifa is second, at 452m but still holds the record for the highest outside observation deck.
The World’s Top 10 Tallest Habitable Buildings
Rank Building City Country Height
1 Burj Khalifa Dubai UAE 828m
2 Taipei 101 Taipei Taiwan 508m
3 Shanghai World Financial Centre
Shanghai China 492m
4 International Commerce Centre Hong Kong China 484m
5= Petronas Tower 1 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 454m
5= Petronas Tower 2 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 454m
7 Nanjing Greenland Financial Centre Nanjing China 450m
8 Willis Tower Chicago USA 442m
9 Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago USA 423m
10 Jin Mao Building Shanghai China 421m
Statistics
Project: Burj Khalifa
Location: Dubai, UAE
Work started: January 2004 (site excavation)
Completed: January 2010 (official launch)
Developer: Emaar Properties
Contractors: Samsung, BESIX and Arabtec
Architect: Adrian Smith, Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (SOM)
Height: 828m
Floors (above ground level): 162
Cost: $1.6bn
Nearest rival: Taipei 101 (508m)
Achievements:
– Tallest building in the world
– Tallest free-standing structure in the world
– Highest number of stories in the world
– Highest occupied floor in the world
– Highest outdoor observation deck in the world
– Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world
– Tallest service elevator in the world; worlds highest mosque (158th floor)
– Worlds highest swimming pool (76th floor)
– Worlds highest occupied floor.
Fast facts
45,000 — Amount, in cubic metres, of concrete used in the foundations
58 — Number of elevators
900 — Number of apartments within the building
309,473m3 — Gross floor area within the building
