Burj Khalifa / SOM

Courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Architects

SOM
Location

1 Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Blvd - Dubai - United Arab Emirates
Area

454249.0 m2
Project Year

2010
Category

Skyscrapers
Manufacturers

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Structural Engineering

SOM
MEP

SOM
Interior Design

SOM
General Contractor

Samsung Corporation / Dubai Contracting Company LLC
Construction Manager:

Turner International
Acoustical / Audio Visual / Telecommunications

Pelton Marsh Kinsella
External Water Features

Crystal Fountains 8 Elevators: Lerch, Bates & Associates Inc.
Fire & Life Safety

The RJA Group, Inc.
Facade Maintenance

Lerch, Bates & Associates Inc., Facade Access Consulting, Citadel Consulting
Food Service

Trend Foodservice Design
Geotechnical

Hyder International
Graphics

emerystudio
Interior Water Features and Pools

PA EMS, Ltd.
Landscape

Cracknell Landscape Design LLC
Lighting

Fisher Marantz Stone
Parking

Walker Parking
Security Systems

Sinclair Knight Merz Consulting
Surveying

Emirates Nortech Surveys
Wind Engineering

RWDI Inc.

Text description provided by the architects. Soaring 828 meters above the metropolis of Dubai, the Burj Khalifa is the world’s tallest building. The design for the 162-story tower combines local cultural influences with cutting-edge technology to achieve high performance in an extreme desert climate.

The centerpiece of a large mixed-use development, the Burj Khalifa contains offices, retail space, residential units, and a Giorgio Armani hotel. A Y-shaped floor plan maximizes views of the Arabian Gulf. At ground level, the skyscraper is surrounded by green space, water features, and pedestrian-friendly boulevards.

The tower’s overall design was inspired by the geometries of a regional desert flower and the patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture. Built of reinforced concrete and clad in glass, the tower is composed of sculpted volumes arranged around a central buttressed core. As the tower rises from a flat base, setbacks occur in an upward spiraling pattern, reducing the building’s mass as it reaches skyward. At the pinnacle, the central core emerges and forms a spire.

Beyond its record-breaking height, the Burj Khalifa incorporates new structural and construction efficiencies to reduce material usage and waste. These include a “sky-sourced” ventilation system, in which cool, less humid air is drawn in through the top of the building. The tower also has one of the largest condensate recovery systems in the world.