25 facts about Dubai's Burj Khalifa we bet you didn't know
With the New Year 2020 round the corner, we look at some facts that make the Burj Khalifa unique.
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The Burj Khalifa's design embodies the lyrical and well-proportioned structure of the Hymenocallis or Spider Lily, a regional desert flower that inspired architect Adrian Smith's vision of the iconic tower.
Giorgio Armani designed the entrance to Armani Hotel Dubai to give visitors the sense that they were stepping into his home. As a result, the reception has no check-in desk.
A truly mixed-use tower, Burj Khalifa comprises 1.85 million square feet of residential space, and 300,000 square feet of office space, in addition to the Armani Hotel Dubai and the Armani Residences. The tower also features lounges, health and wellness facilities, four pools and two observation decks.
Burj Khalifa is home to the commissioned works of over 85 artists from around the world. The artworks vary from impressionism to abstract works, but they all reveal an Arabic cultural context.
Egyptian-born artist Karim Rashid's 'Evolutes' adorns the corporate entrance of Burj Khalifa. The sculpture of shifting ovals is made using a highly reflective organic coating and natural stones in a transparent UV-resistant epoxy system.
More than 12,000 people worked on-site at any given time during the building of Burj Khalifa. Their work and flow on and off-site were orchestrated in the WAR Room (Work-Action-Resolution).
Aside from a stunning view of the city of Dubai, the Observation Decks of Burj Khalifa also offers a unique aerial view of The Dubai Fountain. The performance soundtrack is played at the top for an immersive experience.
The common areas of Burj Khalifa all have a bespoke fragrance that was selected from among 18 aromas. The fragrance with the materials in each space for a subtly different experience.
Height of At the Top, Burj Khalifa is equivalent to being on the tip of the Petronas Towers in Malaysia.
Building the world's tallest building required ingenious measures (and machinery) to enable the logistics chain. The construction site featured three of the world's largest cranes, with a self-jacking mechanism and a capacity to lift 25 tonnes.
Burj Khalifa is home to the world's first Armani Hotel, which opened its doors on April 27, 2010. All aspects of the luxury hotel bear the signature markings of Giorgio Armani, from the room designs to the fabrics and furnishings selected.
The tower's landscaped areas are divided into three distinct sections, for the residences, the offices and the hotel. The landscape design comprises a palm court, six water features, a lake-side promenade, forest groves, a play area and terrace gardens.
Burj Khalifa featured in 'Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol', the fourth installment of the 'Mission Impossible' series, with a hair-raising stunt sequence by Tom Cruise. The stunt scene was later parodied in the popular animated TV series 'The Simpsons'.
Burj Khalifa comprises a record-breaking 330,000 cubic metres (11.6 million cubic feet) of concrete; 39,000 m/t of reinforced steel; 103,000 square metres (1.1 million square feet) of glass; and, 15,500 square metres (166,800 square feet) of embossed stainless steel. It took 22 million man hours to build the tower.
Burj Khalifa ranks #1 on all three criteria for tall buildings -- height to architectural top (828 metres or 2,716.5 feet); height to highest occupied floor (over 570 metres or 1,800 feet); and, height to tip (828 metres or 2,716.5 feet).
Throughout the project, high-compressive strength concrete mixtures were used to withstand the record-breaking height. Pours were only done at night with concrete being chilled prior to mixing and part of the water being replaced with shards of ice.
Burj Khalifa's water system supplies an average of 946,000 litres of water a day. Given the height of the tower, water storage tanks are installed in the main mechanical plant room floors, which are located every 30 floors.
If weighed, the total amount of concrete used in the construction of Burj Khalifa would equal the approximate weight of 100,000 elephants.
Approximately 26,000 individually hand-cut glass panels make up the exterior cladding of Burj Khalifa, along with reflective glazing, aluminium and textured stainless steel spandrel panels and stainless steel vertical tubular fins.
All the equipment essential for the operation of Burj Khalifa are housed in seven double-storey-height mechanical floors. Located every 30 floors, they accommodate the electrical sub-stations, water tanks and pumps, and air-handling units.
The viewfinders located at the periphery of Burj Khalifa's Observation Decks transport you back in time to get a glimpse of what Dubai looked like before the the city's spectacular skyline was built.
A little known fact is that Burj Khalifa features the world's highest library on Level 123 of The Residences.
There are approximately 4,500 'back-of-house' keys that make up Burj Khalifa's mater-key system, allowing security to manage access across the tower.
To prevent aircraft collisions, Burj Khalifa is equipped with high-intensity xenon white obstruction lights that flash 40 times per minute. The flash intensity of the lights changes through the day.
More than 380 skilled workers installed the exterior cladding of Burj Khalifa, starting work in May 2007 and finishing in September 2009. At their fastest, the team installed as many as 175 panels in a single day.