CONSTRUCTION & TECHNOLOGY

Vision is a word you hear a lot in the GCC. But just imagine if you will, sitting down in a meeting and deciding to construct the world's tallest building in your city. Not one that is going to be the tallest by a few dozen metres, and relinquish its title to another tower, in another city, within a few years, but the tallest by a massive margin.

No great surprise here. The Burj Khalifa burst onto the international scene at the beginning of this year with a massive fanfare, fireworks and festivities at the dawn of the new decade after a much anticipated build. The fanfare wasn't without merit: the building smashing almost every record - and by a considerable margin. What's not commonly known is that the Burj actually bagged several world-topping records when it was opened (see below), and set new heights for others to attempt to surpass.

If the project goes ahead, it would top the Taipei 101 Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Centre and Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers – the world's three tallest buildings after the 828m Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

When the Burj Khalifa opened with a dazzling fireworks display earlier this year, the tower was hailed as a marvel of modern engineering, which it certainly is. However, it is also an excellent example of sustainability at work.

More recently, passengers were left stranded between floors after their lift car broke down inside the Burj Khalifa. And, in March this year, British former F1 driver Stirling Moss broke his ankles after falling down an elevator shaft in London.

The company became the first tech brand to be represented on the building in an LED display. There was also a chance for consumers to experience the different features of...

The world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa (formerly known as Burj Dubai), officially opened Jan. 4 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. Architect Adrian Smith, who designed Burj Khalifa while at the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, attended the opening ceremonies. Burj Khalifa's official height was announced at 828 meters, or 2,716.5 feet. "It was the culmination of many years of work and one of the most thrilling moments of my career," said Smith, who left SOM in 2006 to start his own firm, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.

It beat off Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, at a ceremony organised by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). Broadcasting Place, on Woodhouse Lane, was shortlisted for the award after being voted Europe's best tall building by the CTBUH in June.

Old Town forms part of Downtown Burj Dubai, a vast development between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road that is home to the sky-piercing Burj Khalifa. Grabbing at the skirt tails of the Burj is The Address hotel, its distinctive spatula-shaped silhouette a landmark in its own right. Next door is the cavernous retail cathedral of Dubai Mall.

In Dubai on 11 January, a tour to the At The Top observation deck of Burj Khalifa turned into a nightmare for 15 visitors when they became stuck between floors in a high-speed lift, and had to be rescued via a service lift. Apparently the problem was only a ‘stall’, and hence not a major problem, but neither Burj Khalifa nor lift supplier Otis has issued any statement to date about the incident.