Architecture

Interesting Facts about the Tallest Building in the World: Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa Dubai stands as the tallest constructed building in the world since its completion in 2010 to date. It stands proudly as a perfect example of architectural and engineering marvel of the 21st Century. The skyscraper has broken a whole lot of records and created a lot more. Burj Khalifa height touches 828 meters in the sky, accommodating 163 floors. Here are some interesting facts about this skyscraper that would leave you all astonished.

Interesting Burj Khalifa Facts:

Photo by Mathew Thomas from Pexels
  • Record-Breaking quantities of Materials were used for its construction: The construction of Burj Khalifa consumed a whopping 330,000 cubic meters of concrete, 103,000 square meters of glass, 39,000 metric tonnes of steel reinforcement, and 15,000 square meters of stainless steel façade.
  • It was completed within a time frame of 5 years: The construction work of Burj Khalifa Began in January 2004 and the external structure was ready by October 2010. It took approximately 12,000 workers being involved with the construction work, each day. More than 22 million man-hours were put in to complete this whole building within such a short time frame.
  • It holds 7 World Records in total: Apart from holding the record for the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa in Dubai holds 6 more world records. The building has the highest number of floors in the world, stands as the tallest freestanding structure, has the longest traveling elevator, has the most number of occupied Burj Khalifa floors, and has the tallest service elevator and the highest situated observatory deck.
  • Its form was inspired by a Spiderlily: The architect of this architectural marvel, Adrian Smith, derived his inspiration from the form of Spiderlily, a locally originating flower in the desert area.
  • It is Visible from 60 miles away: One of the craziest facts about Burj Khalifa is that you need not be in the city of Dubai to admire its beauty. It is visible from as far as 60 miles (95 Kilometres) on a clear day.
  • It houses one of the fastest elevators in the world: Keeping in mind the huge expanse of the building, it is obvious that it would require quick movement to prevent traffic. The elevators in the building move at a speed of 22mph, which is pretty amusing. The elevators take just a minute to travel from the ground floor to Burj Khalifa top, the 124th floor, where the world’s highest observation deck is situated.
  • Another building is all set to overtake this skyscraper really soon: Burj Khalifa in Dubai has been standing strong as the tallest building in the world for the past 10 years since its completion. However, another skyscraper in Saudi Arabia itself is all ready to take it over really soon. It was planned to be completed in the year 2020. However, due to some delays, the completion date has been shifted to 2023. The skyscraper is situated in Saudi itself and is known by the name Jeddah Towers.

Most of the superpowers of the world have been fighting for ages to home the tallest buildings in the world. At current, Saudi is at the top. However, China has also emerged as a tough competitor in the recent past and currently houses most of the tallest buildings in the world which rank in the top 10 worldwide.