Burj Dubai reaches defining moment as world's tallest building begins to rise

The important second stage of this world-class project follows the completion of complex foundation work on the tower slated for completion in 2008. Emaar had earlier announced that South Korea based-Samsung Corporation has won a global bid for US$900 million (AED 3.285 billion) for the construction of the tower.

Speaking to the media during a hard-hat tour of the Burj Dubai construction site, Emaar Properties Executive Director Robert Booth informed that the foundation work, completed in record 12 months at a cost of US$15 million, (AED 54 million) involved some critical measures taken to ensure that the tallest man-made structure sits on a strong steel and concrete podium.

The tower's 192 piles have been constructed to depths of more than 50 metres and are bound together by a 3.7 metre thick concrete raft across 8,000 square metres, encompassing the tower's entire footprint.

Nearly 18,000 cubic metres (cbm) of cement concrete was poured for the tower piles while 15,000 cbm of concrete was used for the podium piles. The raft, in addition, comprise of 12,300 cbm of concrete, bringing the total concrete poured into the foundation to over 45,000 cbm weighing more than 110,000 tonnes.

"We now embark on the exciting part of the development where the world can witness our promise of "History Rising" coming to fruition," said Booth. "The tower is composed of three elements arranged around a central core. As the tower rises from the foundation raft, setbacks occur at each element in an upward-spiraling pattern, decreasing the mass of the tower as it reaches towards the sky.

"The tower design created by celebrity architect Adrian Smith for Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) is inspired from the geometrics of the desert flower and the patterning systems employed in Islamic architecture. It combines these historical and cultural influences with cutting-edge technology to achieve a high performance building which will set the new standard for development in the Middle East and become the model for the future of the city of Dubai.

The high performance exterior cladding system will be employed to withstand the extreme temperatures during the summer months in Dubai. Primary materials include reflective glazing, aluminum and textured stainless steel spandrel panels and the vertical stainless tubular fins accentuating the height and the slenderness of the tower.

When completed Burj Dubai will hold the record in all four categories as recognized by the New York-based global authority - Council on Tall Building and Urban Habitat - highest structure, roof, antenna and occupied floor.

Commenting on the value that the world-class Burj Dubai tower will bring to the city of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, Booth explained: "Burj Dubai is a symbol of human endeavour and success that makes Dubai one of the finest cities in the world that believes in excellence and a desirable quality of life."

Explaining the scale of the project, Booth further said: "The Tower is the central core of the magnificent US$20 billion (AED 73 billion) Burj Dubai district and the new emerging Downtown Dubai. More than 500 international consultants around the globe are currently finalising the design. At its construction peak, a workforce of more than 20,000 construction workers will be on site to create 45 million square feet of liveable space to accommodate 30,000 homes, making the Burj Dubai site the biggest single construction site in the world.

The district comprises The Dubai Mall, the world's largest shopping and entertainment complex; The Residences, an exclusive upscale series of high-rise apartment towers; The Old Town, a low-rise traditional residences community that is inspired by the stylist antiquity of Arabian architecture; The Boulevard, a 3.5 km stretch that binds the entire district and gives it an international ambience, besides man-made lakes and landscaped parks.

"As an urban planner and developer, I admire the ability of cities to create unique urban environments with a combination of cultures, building types and architectural styles unique to the world. Indeed skyscrapers have historically represented our quest for bettering our urban centres and have created some of the world's most desirable and admired places. Burj Dubai will do the same for the city of Dubai," Booth concluded.