UNOWN FACTS ABOUT BURJ KHALIFA
20 Facts About Burj Khalifa
Burj Khalifa — world’s tallest building is marvel of architectural genius of 21st century. Talk of its height or look at its design, this building is all set to leave you awestruck! Breaking several records and bagging new world records, this building sets global standards for affluence. Here are 20 interesting facts about Burj Khalifa that will make you utter only one word — “awesome!”
1. Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world with an architectural height of 2716.5 feet or 828.0 meters. Its occupied height (height of the floor occupied by people) is 1918 feet or 584.5 meters. Its total height measured from its tip is 2723 feet or 829.8 meters.
2. The observatory deck of the building is located at a height of 1483 feet or 452.1 meters.
3. There are 163 floors located above the ground and it has only one floor located below the ground. It has 58 functional elevators that run at a top speed of 10 meters per second. Burj Khalifa boast 2957 parking spaces, 304 hotels and 900 apartments.
4. The Gross Floor Area of the tower is 3,331,140 ft2 or 309,473 m2. The Gross Floor Area is the area within the footprint of the tower and does not include connected buildings and adjoining podiums.
5. The developer/owner of the tower is Emaar and its design architect is Skidmore Owings & Merill and architect of record is Hyder Consulting.
6. MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) engineer as well as structural engineer is Skidmore Owings & Merill.
7. Turner Construction was the project manager for Burj Khalifa while Besix, Arabtec and Samsung C&T Corporation were its main contractors. Dow Corning Corporation supplied sealants for the tower while Otis Elevator Company supplied the elevators.
8. Located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, this tower was initially named as Burj Dubai. The building was proposed in 2003 but construction work started in 2004 and was completed in 2010.
9. Burj Khalifa is the tallest tower in Dubai, UAE, Middle East and World. It is 3 times as tall as Eiffel Tower and two times taller than Empire State Building.
10. The tower also holds world records for: ‘tallest free standing building’, ‘highest occupied floor’, ‘highest number of stories’, ‘longest travel distance elevators’, ‘tallest service elevator’ and ‘second highest outdoor observatory deck’. Record for highest outdoor observation deck is now held by Canton Tower which was officially opened in December 2011.
11. Total aluminum used in the tower weighs as much as 5 A380 aircraft. Total concrete used in the tower weighs as much as 100,000 elephants.
12. During peak construction days, 12,000 workers were engaged every day.
13. ’22 million man-hours’, ‘55,000-ton steel rebar’ and ‘110,000-ton concrete’ were used to complete the construction of the tower in 6 years.
14. Skidmore Owings & Merill is an American architect firm and they developed the structural system called ‘buttressed core’ that supports 163 floors of the building.
15. So much rebar was used in the construction of Burj Khalifa that if they were laid down end-to-end, the total length would be one-quarter of the total way across the globe.
16. 26,000 glass panels cut individually were used to create the exterior of the building. 300 Chinese cladding experts worked together to design a cladding system for the tower that could withstand Dubai’s summer heat.
17. Burj Khalifa requires a supply of 250,000 gallons of water each day and total electricity consumption of the building is equivalent to the electricity consumed by 360,000 bulbs of 100-watt each burning at the same time.
18. The building has a specially designed elevator system for controlled evacuation during emergency situations like security threats or fire.
19. The building has 12 machines of 13 tons each moving along tracks constructed outside the building. 36 cleaners board these machines to clean the 24,000 reflective windows of the tower.
20. The design of the tower is inspired by the shape of Hymenocallis flower. The flower is known for its long petals extending out from its center.
Please note that all heights are measured from the lowest level of open air, significant, pedestrian entrance. Underground floors are not included in the measurement. The total cost of building Burj Khalifa was $1.5 billion.
10 Fun Facts about the Burj Khalifa
We’ve visited some of the world’s record setters like the world’s largest pumpkin festival, the world’s northernmost city and the world’s largest wine barrel. So it should be no surprise that standing on the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa was also on our bucket list. Not only is the Burj Khalifa the world’s tallest building, it impressively breaks several other records. Here are 10 fun facts about the Burj Khalifa we learned on our visit that we hope also inspire you to head to the top of the world’s tallest building. Just don’t forget to book your Burj Khalifa skip the line tickets before you go.
The Burj Khalifa is the world’s tallest building
1. The Burj Khalifa height is a staggering 828 meters (2716.5 feet) tall, soaring over Dubai. It’s three times as tall as the Eiffel Tower and nearly twice as tall as the Empire State Building. Laid end to end, its pieces stretch over a quarter of the way around the world. It’s cloud-piercing height is certainly one of the most impressive facts about Bruj Khalifa.
Views of the Dubai Fountain from the top of the Burj Khalifa
2. Aside from holding the world record for being the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa holds six other world records. The Burj Khalifa is also the tallest freestanding structure in the world, has the highest number of stories in the world, has the highest occupied floor in the world, has the highest outdoor observation deck in the world, has the elevator with longest travel distance in the world, and has the tallest service elevator in the world.
Views of Dubai and stretching out over the Persian Gulf from the top of the Burj Khalifa
3. One of the most mind blowing Burj Khalifa facts is how much the materials weigh. To put things in to perspective, the weight of the concrete is equivalent to 100,000 elephants. The total weight of aluminum used on the Burj Khalifa is equivalent to that of five A380 aircraft.
The Dubai Fountain dances in front of the Burj Khalifa every 30 minutes from 6pm Wednesday through Sunday
4. Burj Khalifa fun facts that you can truly applaud are its sustainability and reuse of resources. Every year 15 million gallons of water are collected sustainably. The water is used for irrigation to water the landscaping and plants, for the cooling system and to supply the Dubai Fountain.
5. Some Burj Khalifa trivia about the elevators: the building has the longest single running elevator, which is 140 floors. The Burj Khalifa elevator speed is 10 meters per second, making the elevators among the fastest in the world. The Burj Khalifa elevator time to reach the observation deck on the 124th floor is only one minute.
Craning our necks to look up at the sphere from the ground level
6. One of the lesser known and more interesting facts about Burj Khalifa is that the tip of the sphere of the Burj Khalifa can be seen from up to 95 kilometers away.
7. Fairly known Burj Khalifa information is that at the peak of construction, 12,000 workers worked on the building per day.
8. Of course, you can’t leave out how the materials and man hours measure up when talking about interesting facts about the Burj Khalifa. It took more than 110,000 tons of concrete, 55,000 tons of steel rebar, and 22 million man-hours to complete the Burj Khalifa.
The Burj Khalifa still stretches up for many more stories from the observation deck on the 124th floor
9. Exactly how long did it take to build the Burj Khalifa? Excavation began in January 2004. Six years later, the Burj Khalifa finally opened in January 2010.
The spire is designed to resemble the Hymenocallis flower
10. Another of the Burj Khalifa interesting facts is that it is designed to resemble the Hymenocallis flower. The central core emerges at the top and culminates in a sculpted spire.