The Peculiarities of Khalifa Tower Skyscraper in Dubai - Research Paper Example

?Khalifa Tower A skyscraper of its time, the Khalifa Tower is a to reckon with. It is currently the tallest structure in the world, standing at 2,717 feet above the ground. The building was officially launched on 4th January 2010. The Khalifa Tower is situated within the Downtown Dubai, which is a part of the new flagship development. The Khalifa Tower cost around US$ 1.5 billion. The project’s developer is the renowned Emaar Properties (Author Unknown, 2011). The engineering and architecture was undertaken by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago. Adrian Smith is the chief architect while Bill Baker is the chief structural engineer of the Khalifa Tower project. Its construction kicked off in 2004 and took around 7 years to complete. It is without a doubt earth’s tallest freestanding structure, overtaking the Great Pyramid of Giza. The basic ideology of building the Khalifa Tower is to make it the basic centerpiece structure of the world. Its grandeur is such that people want to throng it for all the right reasons. Its majesty attracts people from around the world and they want to have a snap with it to show off to their friends and family members (Author Unknown, 2011). The Khalifa Tower is a phenomenon in its own right. The government of the United Arab Emirates wanted to make the Khalifa Tower one of the best known names in the world and hence the reason that Khalifa Tower came into being. The vision is to diversify from an oil based economy to more of a service and tourism based one. International recognition and that too in a positive vein is one of the most basic ideologies why Khalifa Tower is in place at the present. The political impact for Dubai was such that before Khalifa Tower came into being, the city still enjoyed recognition for all the positive elements that comprised within it. The rulers played their role at telling the world how well Dubai can serve them, and thus trade and investment came in huge numbers. The responsibility lied on the shoulders of the ruler of United Arab Emirates who wanted to make Dubai one of the finest and most elegant destinations within the Middle East. The economic impact before the launching of Khalifa Tower was that the country was receiving economic upheaval; however, with the advent of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, Dubai was hit badly. With help and facilitation from the relevant quarters, and most specifically from the Government of the land, Dubai was able to sustain itself. This made the task even easier for Khalifa Tower to follow within the midst of Dubai (Author Unknown, 2010). The social impact before the foundation stone of Khalifa Tower was put into place, in 2004, was such that the people enjoyed places like Burj Dubai, Dubai Mall, Ibn-e-Batuta and others. Hence, the Khalifa Tower was a totally new marvel for them since they could see it with their own eyes as the tallest free standing structure in the world. People were still proud of the city that resided within and with the institution of the Khalifa Tower, their pride became even higher. The technological impact before was such that Dubai was considered as one of the most wired cities around the globe. Also its technological prowess was something to write home about (Knight, 2010). This increased with the Khalifa Tower coming into full effect, and it became a serious reality after investors opened their arms in unison with the launch of the project, was back in 2004. The importance of Khalifa Tower to Dubai is that it has become a symbol of excellence. This is because it is a huge engineering and architectural marvel. The building closely resembles the bundled tube form of the Willis Tower (Albert, 2011). However, it is not a bundle tube structure in entirety. In the early planning phases of the Khalifa Tower, it was supposed to be entirely residential but with the passage of time, its commercial role was also projected more and more. Emaar Properties chose Hyder Consulting as the supervising engineer and NORR Group Consultants International Limited was chosen as the ones who would supervise the project’s architecture. The timeline of the Khalifa Tower began in January 2004 when the excavation for the projected was initiated. In February 2004, piling of the Khalifa Tower started. It was in September 2004 that Emarr contractors started their construction process and hence the project saw huge progress coming to its folds for the first time. In March 2005, the structure of the Khalifa Tower started rising. By June 2006, 50 levels were reached and hence this was deemed as a milestone in its own right. In February 2007, the Khalifa Tower surpassed the Sears Tower with the building having the most number of floors anywhere around the world. In July 2007, the Khalifa Tower surpassed the Taipei 101 which was the world’s largest tower at that time. In September 2007, it crossed the CN Tower in Canada as it reached the 150 level stage (Author Unknown, 2011). In April 2008, it became the tallest man-made structure as the 160th level was reached. In January 2009, the Khalifa Tower topped out at 2,717 feet which is 828 meters. In October 2009, the exterior of the building got completed and on 4th January 2010, the official ceremony of the Khalifa Tower was held. It was on this day that the old name ‘Burj Dubai’ was changed into the ‘Burj Khalifa’ or the Khalifa Tower in the honor of the President of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan (Author Unknown, 2011). The idea of designing the Khalifa Tower is based on the principle of a number of cross-section comparisons that were done on the building prior to its construction. This was because Khalifa Tower was being compared directly with other well known structures in the world, which were of repute and stood tall amongst the world’s very best. The water supply system, the air-conditioning system, maintenance and a number of other features were also studied in depth so as to make sure that the Khalifa Tower is a marvel for all times, today and tomorrow. Some of the laurels that stand high above other projects include having the world’s highest nightclub on the 144th floor, the building with most floors (160), the first tallest structure in the world to accommodate residential space, the world’s highest mosque (on the 156th floor), world’s highest restaurant (at 122nd floor) and many other feats. These figures suggest that the Khalifa Tower has been able to come about as a major crowd puller for all the right reasons. There is the famous Armani Hotel in the Khalifa Tower which has meant more tourist and leisure opportunities for the project (Author Unknown, 2010). There were a number of challenges and difficulties faced by contractors and engineers in the wake of building up of the Khalifa Tower. This was because Dubai’s climate is very severe and as such the laborers were given some time off their work routines during mid-day. Excessive heat led to a lot of perspiration which meant that the workers faced ill-health and thus got sick leaves as such. However, since the laborers and most of the construction staff hailed from South Asia, there was no problem as such (Author Unknown, 2010). This was because these people hailed from third world countries that were paid well by their masters, and thus they did not cry out loud for their misgivings. It is quite noticeable that during its construction, only one construction-related death was reported, which is incidentally very less as compared to other man-made projects around the world. But then again, this is no reason to justify the torrid conditions that the workers faced in the wake of building up this architectural and engineering marvel. There were riots in the wake of the workers refusing to work on the pretext that their buses got delayed at the end of their shi9fts which meant less time to rest and more work at the end of the day. Also the workers were housed in a very shamble way and their pays were often withheld. Also their passports were confiscated by their employers which were uncalled for on the part of the management. All in all, hazardous conditions were rampant around the site of the Khalifa Tower during the 7 year construction process. The Khalifa Tower stands as a name that has changed the skyscape of the world. It has further increased the elevation levels of the globe and made things even higher to achieve. What is most interesting is the fact that the Khalifa Tower has been able to garner a lot of support at the hands of the people who have made this dream possible (Bayley, 2011). In the times to come, many more skyscrapers are in the pipeline which suggests even further growth and development in the future. For now, the Khalifa Tower stands as a symbol of excellence and resilience, and it would not be wrong to suggest that it will continue to be like that in the years to come. Bibliography Albert, K., 2011. Middle East: Beyond the Burji Khalifa Tower. Found Online at: http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=4989 Author Unknown., 2011. Burj Khalifa The Tower. Found Online at: http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/language/en-us/the-tower/fact-figures.aspx Author Unknown., 2011. Burj Dubai information, construction data, photos, plans etc. Found Online at: http://www.burjdubaiskyscraper.com/facts.html Author Unknown., 2010. Armani hotel opens in Dubai's Khalifa tower. Found Online at: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-D9FBDQ1G0.html Author Unknown., 2011. List of World’s Tallest Buildings. Found Online at: http://www.burjkhalifahtower.com/Tallest_Buildings.html Author Unknown., 2011. The world's tallest tower, Burj Khalifa is 828 meters (2,716.5 ft) high. Found Online at: http://www.ameinfo.com/220299.html Author Unknown., 2010. Silicones protect Burj Khalifa Tower from desert conditions, promote energy efficiency. Found Online at: http://www.dowcorning.com/content/news/construction_silicones_protect_burj_khalifa_tower.aspx Author Unknown., 2010. The world's tallest skyscraper opens in a blaze of glory... and it's been renamed after Arab ruler who bailed out Dubai with $25bn. Found Online at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1240280/Burj-Dubai-tallest-building-world-opens-just-months-debt-crisis.html Bayley, S., 2011. Burj Dubai: The new pinnacle of vanity. Found Online at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/6934603/Burj-Dubai-The-new-pinnacle-of-vanity.html Knight, A., 2010. Burj Khalifa, the Tower of Dubai: Important Facts about the Tallest Building in the World. Found Online at: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2590523/burj_khalifa_the_tower_of_dubai_important.html Read More