Gulf Construction Online - Design work under way on Burj Dubai

UAE Focus

Artist's rendering of the world's tallest tower to take shape in Dubai.

Design work under way on Burj Dubai

01 October 2003

The Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is currently working on the architectural and engineering design contract for the Burj Dubai, which is designed to be the world's tallest building.

The design, conceived by SOM design Partner Adrian Smith, was selected as the winning entry of an invited design competition for the tower held by Emaar Properties of Dubai early this year.

The Burj Dubai, to be located on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, will be the centerpiece of a large-scale mixed-use development which will combine residential, commercial, shopping, hotel, entertainment, and leisure outlets with open green spaces, water features, pedestrian boulevards, a shopping mall and a tourist-oriented old town.

'The design of Burj Dubai is derived from the geometries of an indigenous desert flower, and the patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture,' stated Smith. 'It combines historical and cultural influences with cutting-edge technology to achieve a high-performance building which will set the new standard for development in the Middle East and become the model for the future of the city.'

'The tower is composed of three elements arranged around a central core. As the tower rises from the flat desert base, setbacks occur at each element in an upward spiralling pattern, decreasing the mass of the tower as it reaches toward the sky. At the top, the central core emerges and is sculpted to form a finishing spire. A Y-shaped floor plan maximises views of the Gulf,' explained Smith.

When completed, the $1 billion Burj Dubai will surpass the height of the Sears Tower, the 452-m Petronas Towers in Malaysia, the 508-m Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan, which is nearing completion and the 492-m Shanghai World Financial Centre (under construction).

According to reports, the architects plan extra-deep foundations to enable a few more storeys to be added if anyone tries to put up something bigger.
SOM has been retained to provide fully integrated architecture and engineering services from design through construction stages.

The firm has designed some of world's 15 tallest buildings including the Sears Tower, which is tallest building in the US and the 344 m John Hancock Center, both in Chicago. Under Smith's leadership, SOM also designed the 421-m Jin Mao Tower in China and Tower Palace III, Korea's tallest building and the world's tallest residential building at 264 m.