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Burj Khalifa. The Sears Tower. The World Trade Center... If it's a colossal construction, then Skidmore, Owings & Merrill probably designed it. Jay Merrick gets the measure of global architecture's biggest beasts.

Standing 828 meters (2,717 feet) tall and boasting more than 160 stories, Burj Khalifa is the world’s tallest structure: a single tower that will eventually house 12,000 people. The significance of designing and building the tallest building on Earth, costing over AED5.5 billion (US$1.5 billion), has become a matter of national pride making the protection of this national asset a priority to the government of the UAE, investors, and the tourism industry.

The Right Honourable Lord Peter Mandelson, UK’s First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Lord President of the Council, toured At the Top, Burj Khalifa the world’s highest observatory deck with an outdoor terrace on Level 124 of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. The Rt Hon Lord Mandelson was accompanied on the tour by Mr Abdulla Lahej, Executive Director, Dubai Project Management, Emaar Properties, the developer of Burj Khalifa.

Visitors should again be able to scale the world’s tallest tower from tomorrow when it is due to reopen after a ten-day closure. Burj Khalifa’s 124th floor observation deck has been undergoing mainten-ance after passengers were left trapped when lifts jammed last week. The ticket office of the ‘At the Top’ experience said it was expected to reopen but advised visitors to call ahead to confirm.

Emirates NBD, the largest banking group in the Middle East in terms of assets, announced today the opening of its newest branch at The Residences, a cluster of nine high-rise towers in Downtown Dubai, adjacent to The Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa, the recently inaugurated world’s tallest tower. The second Emirates NBD branch to open this year complements the bank’s existing network of 110 branches and 650 ATMs, the largest such network in the UAE.

Emaar has announced an annual net operating profit of US$633 million (AED 2.324billion). The company highlighted the recent opening of the Burj Khalifa as a high point, along with the opening of its first medical centre and two new hotels.

Burj Khalifia, the world’s tallest tower, will reopen on Feb. 14 following the closure of its 124th- floor observation deck, according to ticket sellers for the Dubai attraction. Ambulances were sent to the tower on Feb. 6 to treat 12 people who had been stranded in a stalled elevator and “dozens” of others who had been trapped on the observation platform, according to Fahad Al Zarouni, deputy director of operations at Dubai’s Center for Ambulance Services. None were hospitalized.

Fino International, has been actively involved in several of the UAE's biggest projects including the Armani Hotel and Residence, the Burj Khalifa tower, The Address at Dubai Mall, The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina Mall, Zabeel Park Stargate and Dubai Metro.

Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, accompanied President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, when he toured Khalifa Burj, the world's tallest tower.

A group of terrified tourists have told how they were trapped in a lift for almost an hour 124 floors above the ground in the world's tallest building. Visitors on the observation deck half-mile-high Burj Khalifa heard a loud boom, then saw dust that looked like smoke seeping through a crack in a lift door.