World's Tollest Building - THE BURJ KHALIFA

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  Burj Khalifa, known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure in the world, at 829.8 m.
  Height: 830 m
  Floors: 163
  Construction started: September 21, 2004
  Opened: January 4, 2010
  Address: Emaar Blvd - Dubai - United Arab Emirates
  Architects: Adrian Smith, William F. Baker, Marshall Strabala, George J. Efstathiou

   
  

  Did You Know That the Burj Khalifa Is So Tall That you Can Watch Two Sunsets On the Same Day?

  Here's a factoid that will blow your mind: the Burj Khalifa—the largest building in the world—is so tall that you can watch the sunset from the base of the building, get into an elevator right to the top, and watch the sunset all over again.
  In fact, if you are a Muslim living on top of the Burj Khalifa, you will have to fast longer during Ramadan because of this time difference: about three minutes between the time of the sunset on the ground and the sunset on the top Burj Dubai is the tallest man-made structure in the world, surpassing the KVLY-TV Tower in North Dakota as well as Warszawa Radio Mast, the previous tallest structure ever built. 

FACTS :

• The Burj Dubai had its name officially changed to Burj Khalifa during its grand opening in honor of the president of the U.A.E. H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan.
• Engineers working on the design considered installing triple-decker elevators, which would have been the first in the world. In fact, the realized building uses double-decker elevators.
• The condensation water collected from the A/C system equals to 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools per year and in turn, used for landscaping.
• Over 330,000 cubic meters of concrete and 31,400 metric tonnes of steel rebar was used at the completion of the tower.
• The tower is situated on a man-made lake which is designed to wrap around the tower and to provide dramatic views of it.
• The top of the building contains a public observation deck and a private club above that.
• Burj Dubai features sky lobbies on levels 43, 76 and 123. These spaces offer fitness and spa facilities. The lobbies on levels 43 and 76 each have a swimming pool and a recreational room for receptions and other gatherings.
• This is the first world's tallest building since prehistoric times to include residential space.
• The cladding system is designed to withstand Dubai's extreme summer temperatures.
• The exterior cladding is of reflective glazing with aluminium and textured stainless steel spandrel panels with vertical tubular fins of stainless steel.
• A total of 45,000 cubic metres of concrete are used in the foundations with a weight in excess of 110,000 tonnes.
• The building sits on a concrete and steel podium with 192 piles descending to a depth of more than 50 metres (164 feet).
• The building was rotated 120 degrees to allow for less stress from the prevailing winds.
• An observation deck will occupy the 124th floor.
• The highest residential floor will be level 109.
• "Burj" is Arabic for "Tower".
• The design by Skidmore Owings & Merrill replaces a plan to reuse the design for Grollo Tower, which was proposed in Melbourne a few years earlier.
• Burj Dubai became the world's tallest high-rise building on July 24, 2007, and the world's tallest self-supporting structure on September 12, 2007.
• Designed by Adrian D. Smith, FAIA, RIBA Design Partner at Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP.
• Although the building's shape resembles the bundled tube concept of the Willis Tower, it is structurally very different and is technically not a tube structure.
• A subtle reference to the onion domes of Islamic architecture can be found in the building's silhouette when looking up at the lobes from near the base.
• The triple-lobed footprint of the building is based on an abstracted desert flower native to the region.
• The maximum elevator speed is 600 m/min.