Dubai’s New Skyscraper To Surpass Burj Khalifa – The World’s Tallest Building
Get ready folks there is a new tallest building in the works! It seems Dubai can’t bear to be knocked off its lists of achievements. For years the glittering city has been the home to the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa. Recently China and Saudi Arabia announced that they were aiming to break Burj Khalifa’s record.
Currently, the world’s tallest building is still standing proudly in Dubai, shining brightly in the morning sun and ablaze with lights during the night. To stay ahead of the game, although Dubai’s Emaar Properties has not officially announced the height of the planned tower, stating only that it would be just “a notch” taller than the Burj Khalifa’s mammoth 828m (2,717ft).
The first foundation stone of the tower was laid out by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai’s current ruler at Dubai Creek Harbor. It will cost around $1 billion.
The Dubai Creek Tower (yes, that’s what it is currently being referred to as), will be the centerpiece of the stunning 3.7 square miles (six square-kilometer) Dubai Creek redevelopment project. According to the press statement, The Tower will be “a notch taller” than the Burj Khalifa. Mohamed Alabbar, who is the chairman of Emaar Properties, the same company which built the Burj Khalifa, revealed when the plans were first announced. Emaar is aiming to complete The Tower before the Dubai World Expo in 2020.
Anyone who has ever been to Dubai can attest that the Burj Khalifa is a work of art, and Emaar doesn’t want to spare any expenses when it comes to The Tower. The company has sourced the best architect they could find (translation: money could buy) to create a towering masterpiece in the center of Dubai Creek.
Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava Valls has designed Dubai’s new tower. He is acclaimed for incredible futuristic structures such as Sciences complex in Valencia, Spain and the City of Arts and the new World Trade Centre transportation hub in New York City which opened this year.
A few features of The Tower that have been announced include The Pinnacle Room, which will offer 360-degree views of the city. The Pinnacle Room is slim, a streamlined structure with a needlepoint-like tip, as well as several “green” observation decks, decorated with trees and other greenery.
The Tower is set to have glass balconies that revolve outside the wall of the tower. It will boast a 5 star luxury hotel and 19 to 20 floors of high end and designer stores, restaurants and other tourist attractions, Emaar has said.
It is being built in the same location as The Address Downtown, the company’s exclusive 63-story luxury hotel that burned down in flames on New Year’s Eve last year.
To abate fears of fire safety, the company released a statement which read, “Seismic tests and wind engineering” are said to have been conducted on new The Tower, while “every inch is designed to the highest international standards, from the materials to the construction technology.”
We can’t wait for The Tower, can you?
