Al Burj

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Al Burj

Technical Data
Height to tip	1,200 m (3,937 ft)
Height to roof	Unknown
Height to top floor	Unknown
Floors	At least 200
Gross floor area	Unknown
Usage	Mixed Use
Company
Developer	Al Nakheel

Al Burj is a supertall skyscraper proposed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates by developer Al Nakheel. If completed it will become one of the world's tallest skyscrapers and form the centrepiece of the Dubai Waterfront, the world's largest man-made waterfront which is also being developed by Al Nakheel.

Although ground levelling and land reclamation has begun on the Dubai Waterfront, construction of the tower itself has not yet started. However, Nakheel is in talks with several potential contractors which include South Korean Samsung Group who is also building the Burj Dubai, Japanese Shimizu Corporation and Australian Grocon. An article posted on Construction UAE and MEED.com ^[1] on March 16, 2007 indicates that construction on the tower is slated to begin later this year and that the final height of the tower will be 1,200 meters (3,937 feet), reduced from an initial height of 1,600 meters or just under one mile. This height would make the Al Burj tower considerably taller than its main rival across town, the Burj Dubai, which has been variously reported as reaching a final anticipated height at completion in 2009 of between 808 meters and 1,011 meters. It should be noted that the current holder of the world's tallest building title is the Taipei 101 tower, at a height of 508 meters to the top of its spire. Thus, Al Burj and Burj Dubai would both be well over twice as tall as any man made structure currently in existence. More remarkably, Al Burj would be nearly four times the height (to the top inhabited floor) of the iconic Empire State Building.

Contents 1 History 2 Design 3 Height 4 Pictures 5 External links 6 References

[edit] History

The tower was originally proposed in 2004 as the centrepiece of Palm Jumeirah, one of the world's largest man-made islands. It was to be named "The Pinnacle" and rise from the centre of a canal on the trunk of the island. The height was to be 750 m tall and consist of 120 floors of luxury apartments but it has since been replaced by the Trump International Hotel and Tower and moved to the Dubai Waterfront.

To date very little has been revealed about the exact design but Nakheel keep stressing that it will become one of the tallest towers in the world and become a new icon for Dubai.

[edit] Design

The original design conceived by Pei Partnership Architects was to have 631,000 square meters (6,800,000 square feet) of floorspace taken up by ultra-luxury apartments, restaurants, a large health club, and an observation deck. The building actually consists of three separate towers built around a hollow interior and joined together by several sky bridges that function as sky lobbies. Above each sky bridge is a sky garden. One of the towers is shorter than the other two and has a large outdoor pool on the roof while the other two are topped with large spires.

In the latest redesigns the basic shape has remained the same, three towers connected by sky bridges with two twin spires and one tower shorter than the others. What has changed is the number of sky bridges: the original design showed only 4, but later renderings show 6, while an even more recent one suggests this has been increased again to about 9 or 10. The building is also to be mixed-use rather than wholly residential.

[edit] Height

According to officials at Al Nakheel, the tower will be at least 1,000 m tall and have more than 200 floors but no specific figures have been disclosed. This is very much the same strategy as that employed by Emaar with the Burj Dubai which currently under construction and will become the world's tallest building on completion. The secrecy behind Al Burj's height suggests that it will also try to compete for this title and rumours even suggest it will break the 1,000 m mark. There's indeed evidence from the latest renditions that height increases have been made. One of these renders even shows the tower with more than 200 floors. The March 16, 2007 article by Construction UAE referenced above states that the tower will indeed begin construction later this year and that it will be 1,200 meters (3,937 feet) tall.

[edit] Pictures

Rendition of Al Burj in the future Dubai Waterfront skyline.

Daytime rendition of Al Burj.

[edit] External links

• Dubai Waterfront website
• Al Nakheel Properties
• Dubai Development & Investment Authority
• Al Burj Renders
• SkyscraperCity discussion topic
• Emporis.com database entry for Al Burj
• "Burj Dubai gets a rival" - article

[edit] References

v • d • e Supertall proposed skyscrapers (at least 300m tall)
Proposed:	Chicago Spire • 175 Greenwich Street • 200 Greenwich Street • Al Burj • Signature Tower • Las Vegas Tower • Burj al Alam • Mubarak al-Kabir Tower • Plaza Rakyat • Russia Tower • Shard London Bridge • Empire World Towers • AIG Main Tower • Incheon Tower • International Business Center • Suyong Bay Tower • San Francisco Transbay Supertalls • Lotte Super Tower • Dubai Towers Istanbul • Phare Tower • Trans National Place • One Bayfront Plaza • India International Trade Center • Port tower complex •
Cancelled:	7 South Dearborn • Grollo Tower • Chicago World Trade Center • Project 2000 • Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle • Palace of Soviets • Park Square Tower • Larkin Building • Hotel Attraction • South Ferry Plaza • 1 New York Place • Hankang City Tower • Torre Generali • Sapphire Tower • Eaton's / John Maryon Tower • Lotte World II Hotel • Ryugyong • Palacio de la Bahía
Visions:	Pyramid City • Sky City 1000 • The Illinois • X-Seed 4000 • Aeropolis 2001 • Kostabi World Trade Center • Center of India Tower