Burj Khalifa - The Jewel in Dubai’s Crown

Tallest skyscraper in the world

The world’s new tallest building, Burj khalifa is needle shaped, which stands 818 metres (2684 feet) tall and can be seen from 95 kms away. This tower pips all its nearest rivals, including Taipei tower (508 m) in Taiwan. Burj Tower is an "unprecedented" engineering marvel that was thrown open to the public.

This structure took six years to build, at a cost of more than 4 billion USD, has an observation deck on its 124th floor, ‘The Top’ with 360-degree views of the entire city. The Top will include interactive features and souvenir shops, and can be reached in 60 seconds by elevator, It is regarded as ‘The pearl of the Persian Gulf’ and ‘The jewel of the Middle East’.

Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, on Monday inaugurated the tower - originally called Burj Dubai - as Burj Khalifa in honour of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the president of the United Arab Emirates

This newly completed tower is certainly impressive with 158 usable stories, more than 50 super fast elevators, and a ground floor foyer that will house the world’s largest indoor fountain. The tower is expected to attract visitors from around the world as well as host a variety of high profile conventions and conferences.

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Quick facts

· Designed by Adrian D. Smith, FAIA, RIBA Design Partner at Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP

· Burj Dubai’s designer Adrian Smith drew his inspiration from the Hymenocallis flower, a six-pointed desert flower that is widely cultivated in Dubai

· The tower boasts luxury apartments and offices, four swimming pools, a private library and a hotel designed by Giorgio Armani. The highest residential floor will be level 109.

· The Tower is less than 15 minutes from Dubai International Airport and easily accessible to several of Dubai's landmarks and key destinations.

· Construction of the Burj Dubai started in January 2004. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010

· Burj Khalifa is surrounded by 11 hectare park, the design of the park The park has six water features, gardens, palm lined walkways, and flowring trees.

· At the centre of the park and the base of the Burj Khalifa is the water room, which is a series of pools and water jet fountains.

· In addition the railing, benches and signs incorporates images of the Burj khalifa and the Hymenocalis flower.

· Outside, and at a cost of Dh 800 million (US$217 million), a record-setting fountain system was designed by WET Design, the California based company. Illuminated by 6,600 lights and 50 coloured projectors, it is 275 m (900 ft) long and shoots water 150 m (490 ft) into the air, accompanied by a range of classical to contemporary Arabic and world music.

· Burj Dubai features sky lobbies on levels 43, 76 and 123. These spaces offer fitness and spa facilities. The lobbies on levels 43 and 76 each have a swimming pool and a recreational room for receptions and other gatherings.

· The tower contains 330,000 cubic metres of concrete, 39,000 m/t of reinforced steel, 103,000 sq mts of glass and 15,5oo sq mts of embossed stainless steel.

· The weight of the empty building is 500,000 tonnes.

· Total built up area is 526,760 sq mts , of which 171,870 sq mts is residential and 27,870 sq mts is office space.

· The exterior cladding is of reflective glazing with aluminium and textured stainless steel spandrel panels with vertical tubular fins of stainless steel. The cladding system is designed to withstand Dubai's extreme summer temperatures.

· This was completed 1325 days after excavation work started in 2004 and took 22 million man hours to complete construction.

· Elevators are the worlds fastest with 66 double deckers moving at the speed of 18m/s (40mph) . Burj tower has 110 floors.

Top 10 tallest buildings in Dubai

1.	Emirates Office Tower	355.00
2.	Burj al Arab	321.00
3.	Emirates Hotel Tower	309.00
4.	21st Century Tower	269.00
5.	Chelsea Tower	251.00
6.	The Tower	243.00
7.	Shangri-La Hotel	196.00
8.	Capricorn Tower	185.00
9.	Murjan Tower	185.00
10.	Mesk Tower	185.00

Dubai Tourism:

· As Tourism is the keyword, 2003 Dubai had 2.8 million visitors, in the year of 2010 this number is expected to be well over ten million for the prime reason Dubai having fabulous architecture with a number of impressive skyscrapers, including the tallest building in the world – the Burj Dubai.

· It is a high-flying modern city that has thrived from commercial investments in recent years.

· The major attractions of Dubai are the Al Fahidi Fort, which was built in 1787 and houses the Dubai Museum.

· Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum's official residence is also impressive.

· A Royal Caribbean cruise to Dubai will take you to some of the best shopping in the world, with fabulous malls housing designer brands.

· There are also a number of adrenaline-filled activities that you can take part in, as Dubai has its own indoor ski arena and the area is renowned for its incredible scuba diving.
a nice treat is to take afternoon tea at the famous Burj Al Ara Hotel, an iconic symbol of Dubai.

· There are also desert safaris that visitors can explore the surroundings on and the nearby Nad al Sherba racetrack is worth a visit.
If you want to spend some time relaxing in Dubai then the place to visit is Jumeira Beach and Park

· Other places of interest include Dubai Marina - the world's largest manmade marina or The World, which is an archipelago of 300 manmade islands off the coast.

· The Amusement park Dubai, is a massive park that will feature life-sized animatronics dinosaurs , including Tyrannosaurus Rex. The creatures will react to visitors movements and the colour of their clothes. This land will be twice the size of Walt Disney World in Florida. And Dubai Mall the largest department store in the world of which both of them already are under construction.

· Out in the sea would now "The World" and the "Palm Deira" be visible, two gigantic projects made up of artifical islands and well under it's way of construction.

· From shopping in some of the world's largest malls, to scuba diving, going on desert safaris and seeking the cultural heritage of the area, you certainly won't be short of things to do. Explore Dubai and have a great weekend…

Bon Voyage….!!!