The Burj Khalifa. The worlds tallest building ever constructed. The Burj Khalifa’s construction began in January 2004 and in just 3 and a half years after excavation began, the Burj Khalifa became the tallest free standing structure in the world. The super structure was completed December 30th 2009.
Some interesting facts about the Burj Khalifa.
- Giorgio Armania designed the main entrance into the hotel, in attempt to have the impact of making visitors feel like they were entering his home. This meant that the reception does not have a check in desk.
- The Burj Khalifa uses its space for the Armani Hotel, Armani Residences, lounges, health and wellness facilities, four pools and observations decks.
- More than 12,000 people took part on site when construction the Burj Khalifa at any given time.
- The stairwell in the Burj Khalifa has a grand total of 2,909 steps which lead to the 160th To go any higher, a ladder is required.
- The building is one of the most photographed structures in the world.
- To contruct the Burj Khalifa required various plant machines. This included three of the worlds largest cranes with a capacity to lift 25 tonnes.
- Construction took 22 million man hours to build the tower.
- The materials used were a record breaking, 330,000 cubic metres of concrete, 39,000 m/t of reinforced steel, 103,000 square metres of glass, 15,500 square metres of embossed stainless steel.
- This total overall height of the Burj Khalifa is 828 metres. The height to the highest occupied floor is 570 metres.
- High compressive strength concrete was used in construction. This enabled the building to securely reach the record breaking height.
- The total weight of concrete used in the construction would weigh the equivalent of 100,000 elephants.
- The structure of the building is supported by a 3.7 metres thick reinforced concrete mat.
Timeline of Construction
January 2004 – Excavation started
February 2004 - Piling Began
March 2005 – Superstructure started
June 2006 – Level 50 Reached
January 2007 - Level 100 Reached
March 2007 – Level 110 Reached
April 2007 – Level 120 Reached
May 2007 – Level 130 Reached
July 2007 – Level 141 Reached which makes it the worlds tallest building
September 2007 – Level 150 Reached – worlds tallest free standing structure
April 2008 – Level 160 Reached – worlds tallest man made structure
January 2009- Completion of spire
September 2009 – Exterior classing completed
January 2010 – Official launch ceremony