World’s tallest tower half a mile high
Adam Schreck, Associated Press Writer
Dubai opened the world’s tallest skyscraper Monday in a blaze of
fireworks, then added a final flourish: It renamed the half-mile-high
tower for the head of neighboring Abu Dhabi, whose billions bailed out
Dubai amid last year’s financial crisis.
Long known as Burj Dubai — Arabic for “Dubai Tower” — the building
rises 2,717 feet (828 meters) from the desert. The $1.5 billion
“vertical city” of luxury apartments and offices and a hotel designed by
Giorgio Armani also plans to have the world’s highest mosque (158th
floor) and swimming pool (76th floor).
Its backers wanted the skyscraper to be a monument to the boundless,
can-do spirit of Dubai — one of a federation of seven small sheikdoms
that make up the United Arab Emirates — but the timing could not be
worse. Property prices in parts of Dubai collapsed by nearly half in the
past year, the result of easy credit and overbuilding during a real
estate bubble that has since burst.
The Burj - World’s tallest tower. AFP |
Struggle
Riding to the rescue was Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler
of oil-rich neighbour Abu Dhabi, which pumped tens of billions of
dollars into Dubai last year as it struggled to pay enormous debts.
As officials opened the tapering metal-and-glass spire with fireworks
and multicolored lights, they unexpectedly announced it would be renamed
Burj Khalifa, to honor the Abu Dhabi leader who is also president of the
UAE.
Thousands of cheering, clapping spectators watched as a tally
projected on huge screens at the opening ceremony revealed the tower’s
most closely guarded secret — its height of 2,717 feet. That made it
more than 1,000 feet higher than the skyscraper known as Taipei 101 in
Taiwan, which at 1,667 feet had been the world’s tallest since 2004.
Tallest
The tallest building in the United States, the Willis Tower in
Chicago, comes in at 1,451 feet, although with its spire it measures
1,729 feet and would be considered even taller than Taipei 101. Before
they were destroyed in the Sept, 11, 2001, attacks, the World Trade
Center towers both topped 1,360 feet. The Freedom Tower being planned
for the site will measure 1,776 feet, with completion estimated in 2013.
The exact number of floors for the Burj Khalifa is not known, and
could reflect how the developer chose to calculate the total.
Mohammed Alabbar, chairman of the tower’s developer Emaar Properties,
initially said Monday it had “more than 200” stories, but he later
backtracked to more than 165 inhabitable floors, given its tapered top.
Promotional materials sent before the tower’s opening said it contained
160 stories.
Developers say they are confident in the safety of the tower, which
is nearly twice the height of New York’s Empire State Building.
Greg Sang, Emaar’s director of projects, said the Burj Khalifa has
“refuge floors” at 25 to 30 story intervals that are more fire resistant
and have separate air supplies in case of emergency. Its reinforced
concrete structure, he said, makes it stronger than steel-frame
skyscrapers.
“A plane won’t be able to slice through the Burj like it did through
the steel columns of the World Trade Center,” he said.
Dubai has not been a target of terrorist attacks or threats that have
been made public.
The tower was designed by Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill,
which has a long track record in engineering some of the world’s tallest
buildings, including the Willis Tower.
Ahmed Elghazouli, a professor of structural engineering at Imperial
College London who was not involved with the Burj’s construction, said
such groundbreaking buildings typically employ some of the world’s best
engineers, and go through more rigorous testing and require more studies
during design than standard towers.
“I have no doubt that it has been looked after very well in terms of
design and construction,” he said when asked about the building’s
safety. “I would be much more comfortable getting into a building like
this knowing that so much background work has gone into it.”
Commercial hub
Dubai was little more than a sleepy fishing village a generation ago,
but it boomed into the Middle East’s commercial hub in the past two
decades on the back of business-friendly trading policies, relative
security, and vast amounts of overseas investment.
With little oil of its own, Dubai relied on cheap loans to pump up
its international clout during the frenzied boom years.
But like many overextended homeowners, the emirate and its
state-backed companies borrowed too heavily and then struggled to keep
up with payments as the financial crisis intensified and credit markets
froze up.
The sheikdom shocked global markets last year when it unexpectedly
announced plans to reorganize its main state-run conglomerate Dubai
World and sought new terms in repaying some $26 billion in debt. It got
some aid from Abu Dhabi’s bailouts.
Financial support
Dubai’s hereditary ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in
recent months has increasingly spoken of the close relationship between
the two emirates, declaring in November that “Dubai and Abu Dhabi are
one” and will “be there for each other.” Sheik Mohammed serves as vice
president and prime minister of the UAE federation.
Analysts had questioned what Dubai might need to offer in exchange
for the financial support it received from Abu Dhabi, which controls
nearly all of the UAE’s oil wealth. Abu Dhabi provided $25 billion last
year as Dubai’s debt problems deepened.
“It’s really quite remarkable to have to name your biggest and most
memorable landmark after the living monarch of a neighboring emirate,”
said Christopher Davidson, a professor at the University of Durham who
has written extensively about the UAE.
Investments
Burj developer Emaar is also partly owned by the Dubai Government,
but is not part of struggling Dubai World, which has investments ranging
from Dubai’s manmade islands and seaports to luxury retailer Barneys New
York and the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2. Emaar’s Alabbar said the
landmark Burj is 90 percent sold in a mix of residential units, offices
and other space, offering a counterpoint to Dubai’s financial woes.
At their peak, some apartments in the Burj were selling for more than
$1,900 per square foot, although they now can go for less than half
that, said Heather Wipperman Amiji, chief executive of Dubai real estate
consultancy Investment Boutique.
Amiji said some buyers may struggle to find tenants at going rates
once the tower’s expected high service charges are factored in.
Designs
The building ranks as the world’s tallest structure, beating out a
television mast in North Dakota.
Early designs for the Burj had it edging out Taipei 101 by about 33
feet (10 meters), said Bill Baker, the building’s structural engineer.
“We weren’t sure how high we could go,” said Baker, of Skidmore,
Owings & Merrill. “It was kind of an exploration ... a learning
experience.”
Work began in 2004 and moved rapidly. At times, new floors were being
added almost every three days.
During the busiest construction periods, some 12,000 people worked at
the tower each day, according to Emaar. Low-wage migrant workers from
the Indian subcontinent provided much of the muscle.
The Burj is the centerpiece of a 500-acre development that officials
hope will become a new central residential and commercial district in
this sprawling and often disconnected city. It is flanked by dozens of
smaller but new skyscrapers and the Middle East’s largest shopping mall.
Layout
That layout — as the core of a lower-rise skyline — lets the Burj
stand out prominently against the horizon. It is visible across dozens
of miles of rolling sand dunes outside Dubai. From the air, the spire
appears as an almost solitary, slender needle. An observation deck on
the 124th floor opens to the public Tuesday, with adult tickets starting
at 100 dirhams, or just over $27 apiece.
The ride to the top took just over a minute during a visit for
journalists Monday.
Dubai landmarks like the sail-shaped Burj al-Arab hotel and the
manmade Palm Jumeirah island were visible through the haze.
The Burj itself cast a sundial-like shadow over low-rise houses and
empty sand-covered lots stretching toward the azure Persian Gulf. |