The Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai was built in early January 2010, immediately it was recognized as the tallest building in the world. During construction, this unique structure was called Burj Dubai. The building was created on the principle of "city in city". It is autonomous and independent of the city. The area of the unique complex is 344,000 sq.m. Here are residential apartments, office areas, entertainment centers, parks and boulevards. The magnificent Armani Hotel is also located here .
Design and construction
They started working on an original and complex project in January 2004. The tower was designed by the American company Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Samsung C & T was selected as the general contractor.
Already at the end of September 2004, construction began, which was proceeding at a very high pace. In a week, 1-2 floors were erected. The spire, having a height of 180 meters, is made using metal structures.
This is a unique building that has made Dubai famous all over the world. Burj Khalifa was built using certain grades of concrete that can withstand temperatures up to 50 degrees. Such concrete was laid only at night, while ice was added to the composition. In total, about 320,000 m3 of this composition was used, steel reinforcement - more than 60,000 tons.
The construction of Burj Khalifa (Dubai) cost a huge amount. The UAE spent $ 1.6 billion on the construction. It should be noted that this amount paid off in the first year after the start of operation, thanks to the popularity of the structure. After all, not everyone who wants to, even from the most influential and richest people in the world, was able to purchase apartments here. The price of one square meter in them reached 40 thousand dollars, and they were sold before the completion of construction.
Design features
The Burj Khalifa (Dubai), the photo of which you see in this article, is equipped with a turbine that rotates with the wind and generates autonomous electricity, and a special fire safety system allows evacuating the inhabitants of the tower in 32 minutes if necessary.
The building has 57 elevators. They move at a speed of 10 m / s. During the construction, the climatic features of the UAE were taken into account. To reduce the risk of rocking the structure in the wind, it was given an asymmetric shape. Burj Khalifa delights all guests arriving in Dubai. On a tour of a skyscraper, tourists are told that special glass was used for the construction, which does not allow dust and completely reflects the rays of the sun.
Special membranes are installed in the floor, which aromatize and cool the air in the room. All this maintains a comfortable temperature, despite the unbearable heat from the outside.
Dubai, Burj Khalifa: Description
We have already said that the skyscraper in the UAE is by far the highest on Earth. The height of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is 828 meters. This is a large-scale and innovative construction. It seems to pierce the sky and rises upward. For comparison, we can say that the famous London Big Ben is seven times lower than the Arabian tower.
Infrastructure
On a vast territory there is a luxurious hotel with 300 rooms, offices, 700 VIP-class apartments, a restaurant, parking for three thousand cars, well-known brands, gyms, swimming pools, spa centers, a jacuzzi, viewing platforms and even your own park, the size of in 11 hectares. As you can see, this is really a unique building of the Burj Khalifa (Dubai). How many floors are there in it? This question is probably of interest to many of our readers. The building has 160 floors.
The skyscraper has an asymmetric shape resembling a stalagmite, which seems to grow from the bottom of the cave. Another feature of the unique building is that its foundation is not fixed as usual in the ground. It consists of 200 hanging piles, the length of which is 45 meters with a diameter of 1.5 meters.
Air and temperature
The air in the famous tower is not only fully air-conditioned, but also has its own aroma, designed specifically for this building. It is fed into the tower through certain openings in the floor. The temperature of the building is + 18 ° C.
Maintaining a stable temperature is achieved using tinted thermal glass. It will take at least three months to wash all the glass in the building.
Electricity and water supply
How such a huge building is provided with water and electricity, is of interest to many tourists coming to Dubai. Burj Khalifa has an autonomous energy supply system. It consists of wind generators with turbines 60 meters long and huge solar panels. Their area is 15 thousand square meters. m
The water supply system supplies the tower daily with approximately 945,000 liters of water through the allotted pipelines. Their length is 100 km. In addition, there is a special pipeline. Its length is 213 kilometers. Another 34 kilometers of pipes supply cold water for air conditioning.
Viewpoint
The main panoramic platform is “At the Top”, which is located on the 124th floor (height 451.9 m). We recommend everyone who happens to visit Dubai to visit her.
Excursions
You can visit the observation deck on your own by buying a ticket at the ticket office located on the ground floor of the building, or as part of an excursion group. Before you visit, you can put things that you don’t need into the lockers. Then you should definitely go through the metal detector.
Here, on the walls, various information about the structure and popular quotes of Arab sheikhs related to it are posted. At the appointed time, you will be taken to the elevators, but before that they will take a picture. In addition, on the way to the elevator you will see paintings and information about the world's tallest building, the history of its creation, the companies that took part in the construction. The elevators, which are designed to transport tourists, are allowed in small groups. During the climb, there is an excellent light show, accompanied by epic music. The climb takes only one minute.
And now you find yourself on the 124th floor of the building. From here, a 360-degree view opens. Half of the site is located in the open air, the second part is indoors. Tourists who have already climbed to the observation deck, believe that it should be visited at least 4 times: at dawn, in the afternoon, at sunset and at night.
It takes 45 minutes to visit the site, but nobody really watches the time, so you can stay there as long as you need to enjoy the magnificent scenery. A visit in the late evening or at night is attractive because you can see the Dubai musical fountains from great heights. There is also a gift shop with T-shirts, cups and other paraphernalia. You can also take a photo and get a photo. When you consider that you saw everything that you planned, go to the exit, and in a minute you will return from heaven to earth. Before leaving, a pretty girl will come up to you and present an album with your photo against the backdrop of the picturesque Burj Khalifa.