Burj Khalifa (, "Khalifa Tower") is an extremely tall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates named after Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and is the tallest building ever built, at . Before the building opened, it was called Burj Dubai. The building is 162 stories high. Construction of the tower was started on 6 January 2004, and the building was officially opened on 4 January 2010, almost 6 years later. It is the tallest structure made by humans in the world. The building is more than  taller than Taipei 101. Taipei 101 was the tallest building until 2010 before Burj Khalifa was built.

Adrian Smith designed the tower. He worked with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) until 2006. It was built by Samsung Engineering & Construction, Besix, and Arabtec. The tower cost US $1.5 billion to build.  The building is part of a  building project on Sheikh Zayed Road, Downtown Burj Khalifa. It is near Dubai's main business district.

The building and planning 

The main contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea. They also built the Taipei 101 and Petronas Twin Towers. Other contractors who helped with the building included Belgian group Besix and Arabtec from the UAE. The Turner Construction Company was chosen as the construction project manager.

The design architect, Adrian Smith, did not like the first design of the upper part of the building. He added 27 new floors and an aluminium spire to the top of the plans. The design of Burj Khalifa based on those used in Islamic architecture. Burj Khalifa has been said to have had several other planned height increases since it was first built. This has not been proven to be true yet. The TV/radio communications mast was added to the tower's plans in 2007. This was after building work had begun in 2006. There are pressurized, air-conditioned refuge floors about every 35 floors. These were put into the tower in case of an emergency or fire.

The unusual design and engineering problems of building Burj Khalifa have been shown in many television documentaries. These include the Big, Bigger, Biggest series on the National Geographic and Five channels, and the Mega Builders series on the Discovery Channel.

The most important building material of Burj Khalifa is reinforced concrete. A special concrete was needed because of the high pressures of the building's weight and the hot local climate of Persian Gulf temperatures that can reach . Any major cracks could have caused a large amount of damage to the building.

The foundation of the building is  deep. It was built with 192 columns being put into the ground. Each column was  in diameter and  long.  of steel rebar was used in the construction of the tower. It took 22 million man-hours to build. A high density, low permeability concrete was used in the foundations of Burj Khalifa. A cathodic protection system is used to lessen any bad effects from corrosive chemicals in local ground water.

The Dubai Fountain 

A fountain system was built outside the tower. It was designed by WET Design of California. They built and planned out the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel Lake in Las Vegas. The fountain cost UAEd 800 million. It is lit by 6,600 lights and 50 coloured projectors. The fountain is  long. It shoots water  into the air to the sounds of classical and modern Arabic and world music. On 26 October 2008, the fountain was named the Dubai Fountain.

Delays and late building work 

Emaar Properties said on 9 June 2008 that construction of Burj Khalifa was slowed because of changes to finishes. An Emaar official said that the luxury finishes that were decided on in 2004, when the tower was first planned, were being being replaced by better finishes. The design of the apartments were also made better. This was done to make them both look better and work better. There were problems with the marble decorations, flooring, the top floors' sanitation system, broken glasswork and a poorly done wall mural of the Sultan of Oman. A new ending date of 2 December, 2009, was then given. Burj Khalifa opened on 4 January 2010.

Workers' disputes and strikes. 
Burj Khalifa was built mainly by people from South Asia. Press reports said in 2006 that skilled carpenters at the site earned UK£4.34 a day, and labourers earned UK£2.84. According to a BBC investigation and a Human Rights Watch report, the workers lived in very bad conditions. Often they were not paid for the work. Their passports were taken by their employers. It was said that they were working in dangerous conditions that caused high number of deaths and injuries. Companies not paying workers has been reported to the authorities several times.

On 21 March 2006, about 2,500 workers protested. They were mad about buses that were delayed for the end of their shifts. They damaged cars, offices, computers, and construction equipment. A Dubai Interior Ministry official said they caused almost UK£500,000 in damage. Most of the workers who were part of the riot returned the following day but would not work.

Records set 

The building is not only the tallest building in the world, it also holds the following records-

 Tallest skyscraper to top of spire:  (previously Taipei 101 – )

 Tallest structure ever built:  (previously Warsaw radio mast – )
 Tallest freestanding structure:  (previously CN Tower – )
 Building with most floors: 160 (previously Willis Tower – 108)
 World's highest elevator installation
 Highest vertical concrete pumping (for a building):  (previously Taipei 101 – )
 Highest vertical concrete pumping (for any construction):  (previously Riva del Garda Hydroelectric Power Plant – )
 The first world's tallest structure in history to include residential space
 Highest outdoor observation deck in the world (126th floor), at about 440 m (1,440 ft).
 World's highest installation of an aluminum and glass façade, at a height of .
 World's highest swimming pool (125th floor)
 Worlds highest restaurant (128th floor)

Gallery

Comparisons 

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References

Other websites 
 Beautiful Places in Dubai
 http://www.widerview.ae/ 
 Official website
  Dubai Top Ten Hidden treasures 
 Burj Dubai Skyscraper.com 
 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, architects
 Emporis page on Burj Khalifa
  (Irwin, Baker, June 2006) STRUCTURE magazine
  (Erwin, etal, November 2006) STRUCTURE magazine
 Otis Worldwide, Signature Projects, information on the project's elevators at the Otis Elevator Company
 Wind and Other Studies  performed by RWDI
 View from the top
 2daydubai.com , Burj Khalifa Project Review
 BBC report on Burj Khalifa opening with video and links
 A map of its location (Google Maps)

2010 establishments in Asia
Buildings and structures completed in the 21st century
Buildings and structures in Dubai
Hotels in the United Arab Emirates
Skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates
Establishments in the United Arab Emirates