This 2020, the Burj Khalifa has completed a decade as the tallest skyscraper in the world. Inaugurated on January 4, 2010, the 828-meter-long tower ousted the Taipei 101 Tower (508 meters) in Taiwan as the tallest building. However, this title will last little longer, as two large real estate projects hope to build towers over a kilometer long. This is the case of the Dubai Creek Tower, by the Spanish Santiago Calatrava, and the Jeddah Tower, in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
10 years of Burj Khalifa
The Burj Khalifa has luxurious residences, offices and also leisure and wellness facilities, such as the At the Top experience, Burj Khalifa SKY, which offers a 360-degree view of the city and is considered the highest observation deck with an outdoor terrace of the planet. In addition, on the 122nd floor is the haute cuisine restaurant At.Mosphere, the highest in the world, where you can taste exquisite dishes while enjoying the amazing panoramic view.
The desert flower Hymenocallis served as the inspiration for the construction of this super structure that honors the city with its extraordinary union of art, engineering and meticulous craftsmanship. The Council On Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has described it as a ‘global icon’, a recognition given only once every 10 to 15 years.
The construction of the more than 200 flats lasted only 1,325 days. Excavation work began in January 2004 and a total of 330,000 cubic meters of concrete, 39,000 tons of steel reinforcement, 103,000 square meters of glass and 15,500 square meters of embossed stainless steel were used to lift it.
The Calatrava Lily
It is expected that this 2020 the works of the Dubai Creek tower will be completed, a project by the architect Santiago Calatrava of 1,300 meters in height that began in 2016. It is a design, explains the architecture studio itself, which is influenced by natural forms of the lily and evokes the shape of a minaret, a distinctive architectural feature in Islamic culture. “The design of the building is inspired by the Islamic tradition, evoking the same history that brought the Alhambra and the Mosque of Córdoba to the world”, assured Santiago Calatrava in the presentation of the project.
This architectural project not only seeks to be the tallest building in the world, but also aims to be the outstanding image of the new neighborhood of the port of Dubai. “(This building) will also position the Port of Dubai as one of the most desirable residential, leisure and tourist attractions, providing tourists and residents with a modern, luxurious and sustainable environment in which to live, work, learn and play,” they assure from the promoter company of the project, Emaar Properties.
Thus, the building will have numerous observation platforms with 360-degree views of the city, such as the VIP observation garden that recreates the splendor of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The structure also provides a beacon of light at night, with lighting that will emphasize the floral design of the building.
Beyond the design, Calatrava’s project also contemplates a sustainable approach: the tower will use a highly efficient cooling system and the water collected from this system will clean the façade of the structure.
Jeddah tower
2021 is the scheduled date for the inauguration of the Jeddah Tower, in the city of Jeddah, Suadi Arabia. In principle, this tower was going to be taller than Calatrava’s building, as it would reach more than 1,600 projected meters in length. However, due to technical problems, the building has had to settle for reaching 1,000 meters in length.
Designed by the architecture studio AS + GG, this skyscraper evokes a bunch of leaves that sprout from the ground and is intended to be a “catalyst for further development around it,” explains the studio. In addition, like Calatrava’s proposal, the project is highly sensitive to sustainability and will include, for example, a high-performance exterior wall system that will minimize energy consumption by reducing thermal loads. Additionally, each of the three sides of the Jeddah Tower features a series of indentations that create pockets of shade that shield areas of the building from the sun and provide outdoor terraces with stunning views of Jeddah and the Red Sea.
In concrete terms, this will be a mixed-use building that will contain a luxury hotel, offices, serviced apartments, luxury apartments and the highest observatory in the world, a terrace in the sky of about 30 meters in diameter. To serve tenants, the complex will contain 59 elevators, including 54 single-deck and five double-deck elevators, along with 12 escalators. The elevators serving the observatory will travel at a speed of 10 meters per second in both directions.
Facebook Comments
Disqus