Tallest buildings in Dubai. The tallest building in Dubai: height, photo. History of construction

A very important point. There are two observation decks on the Burj Khalifa. This is important, since ticket prices vary significantly, and Prime hours (the best hours to visit) are different.

AT THE TOP– these are observation platforms on the 124th (open) and 125th (indoor) floors, height – 452 meters.

– this is an observation deck on the 148th floor (open), height – 555 meters.

To understand why this is so, we will dive a little into the history of the Burj Khalifa, although we will tell the whole story in facts and figures in the second part of this article. At first, there was no upper observation deck at all; the platform on the 124th floor (452 ​​meters), which was the highest in the world, was sufficient.

However, in December 2011 (a year after the opening of the Burj Khalifa), the Canton Tower opened in Guangzhou (China) with an observation deck at an altitude of 488 meters, Dubai residents were left without a record.

On October 15, 2014, Dubai regained its record by opening a site on the 148th floor (555 meters). But already in June 2016, an observation deck opened on the Shanghai Tower (China) at an altitude of 561 meters, and the Dubai residents again lost their record.

Now Dubai has nothing to “cover” with. Let us remind you that the Burj Khalifa building is only 585 meters high, and the remaining 243 meters is a large metal spire, in which, according to all safety standards, an observation deck cannot be organized.

Opening hours

Seven days a week, from 8-30 to 22-00. The entrance closes at 21-15.

Prime hours for AT THE TOP venues – from 15-00 to 18-30.

Prime hours for the AT THE TOP SKY site – from 9-30 to 18-00.

Prime hours are subject to change by the administration.

Ticket price

There are two types of tickets - Immediate Entry Admission and General Admission. Children under 4 years old are always free. Further, all prices are given in dirhams; for the current exchange rate, see our article “”.

Immediate Entry Admission. This ticket is purchased at the box office on the day of the visit. It would seem that the simplest and most convenient option.

In practice, this is the worst option. Firstly, this type of ticket is sold only on AT THE TOP, and AT THE TOP SKY does not have them at all.

Secondly, tickets may simply not be available, because a limited number of people are allowed onto the observation decks.

Thirdly, the price is very high: 315 dirhams, versus 210 and 135 dirhams for a ticket purchased on the website. Below is a table of prices for Immediate Entry tickets.

General Admission. This ticket can be purchased on the official website https://tickets.atthetop.ae/. When purchasing a ticket, you need to select the date and time of your visit. Below is a table of prices for General Admission tickets.

General Admission tickets are available on the website one month before the date of visit. Payment is made by VISA, MasterCard and JCB cards. There is an additional charge of 5 dirhams for purchasing a ticket online. That is, add 5 to the prices in the table above.

And one more important point. You cannot buy a ticket for children separately, only together with at least one adult, the system does not allow this. If you are traveling with a child, buy all tickets at once in one transaction. Don’t forget about the children’s ticket, otherwise you won’t be able to buy it later in a separate transaction.

Probably, the Burj Khalifa can be safely given another record - for the most expensive tickets to the observation decks. For comparison, looking at Shanghai from the currently record-breaking observation deck of the Shanghai Tower costs 180 (at the time of writing, $27).

Special offers

When purchasing on the website, you can use combo tickets, some of which are very profitable.

AT THE TOP SKY + Dubai Fountain Boardwalk. Together you buy a ticket to the AT THE TOP SKY venue and watch the show from a special platform at the foot of the Burj Khalifa (pictured below, click to enlarge). Valid from 19-00, price – 360 (+5) dirhams.

A ticket to AT THE TOP SKY costs 350 (+5) dirhams, and viewing the fountains from the platform can be purchased separately for 20 (+5) dirhams. This results in a saving of 15 dirhams.

ATT + Dubai Aquarium. This is a great offer. You get tickets for AT THE TOP (not during Prime hours) and . Price – 180 (+5) dirhams.

A ticket to the Burj Khalifa costs 125 (+5) dirhams, a ticket to the aquarium costs 100 dirhams. This results in a savings of 45 dirhams.

FAST TRACK. This ticket allows you to go everywhere without queuing. Price – 300 (+5) dirhams, regardless of age. This ticket can only be used to enter the AT THE TOP venue; this type of ticket is not available for the AT THE TOP SKY venue. If you see someone skipping the line, don’t be surprised or indignant, he bought himself a FAST TRACK ticket.

There are several more combo tickets, but we won’t talk about them in detail now, since we don’t think they are very popular. If you are interested, you can read their description on the website tickets.atthetop.ae. If you don’t know English, use the browser’s built-in translator, it will be more or less clear.

In the early 2000s, the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, began implementing a plan to transform his emirate into one of the main centers of world tourism. One of the points of this plan was the construction of a new area - Dubai Downtown, which includes more than 100 residential and office buildings, hotels, the largest shopping center, impressive fountains and many other projects. But the key element of the new area was to be the world's tallest skyscraper.

2003 Burj Khalifa will be built on this site

In the spring of 2002, Dubai-based construction company Emaar approached architect Adrian Smith with a proposal to design the tallest building in the world. Adrian Smith was chosen for his Jin Mao skyscraper, built in the heart of Shanghai. The original design was 518 meters high, enough to overtake the then record holder Taiwan's Taipei 101 skyscraper, which is 509 meters high. But at the initial stage of construction, the project was changed at least 7 times, the latest options provided for a height of 705 and 750 meters. Smith was not happy with the constant demands to change the design and proposed 5 final versions of the tower, which would not be changed. Emaar chose a project with a height of 828 meters.
The project was launched under the name Burj Dubai, construction work began in January 2004.

In December 2004, the foundation of the tower was completed.

It took almost a year to construct the first 10 floors of the building. September 2005:

A special grade of concrete was developed especially for the Burj Khalifa, which can withstand temperatures up to +50 °C for a long time. It was poured only at night, and ice was added to the solution. Otherwise, too high a temperature would not allow the concrete to gain the necessary strength when hardening. April 2006:

The average speed of tower construction was 1-2 floors per week. October 2006:

October 2007: Burj Khalifa reaches 160 floors, followed by construction of a 200-meter steel spire.

Glass designed specifically for the Burj Khalifa will transmit enough light, but at the same time reflect some of the heat, which will significantly reduce air conditioning costs. In addition, they must withstand enormous wind loads on the tower. March 2008.

On January 4, 2010, the tower was opened by the ruler of the emirate, Mohammed bin Rashed Al Maktoum. Burj Khalifa In Dubai. At first it was called Burj Dubai, but then it was renamed in honor of the President of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

History of the tower's construction

Plans for the construction of the tallest building in the world were announced back in 2002. It was planned that the tower would become a key element of the area under construction and would attract tourists from all over the world. The general contractor of the building was the South Korean company Samsung Engineering, and the developer was the Dubai-based Emaar.

The construction of the tower took six years and required about one and a half billion dollars. By the way, they paid for themselves in a record short time - 1 year.

While still under construction, the building's space was sold at $40,000 per square meter. The observation deck has also gained enormous popularity; you can now get to it by purchasing a ticket. Construction of the tower began in 2004. The building was erected quite quickly: one or two floors every week.

A special brand of concrete, developed specifically for the Burj Khalifa, can withstand very high temperatures - up to plus 50 degrees Celsius. It was poured only at night, adding ice to the solution. Having reached the one hundred and sixtieth floor inclusive, the concrete work was completed. Next, according to the plan, a spire was assembled from metal structures, the height of which was one hundred and eighty meters.

Much attention was paid to the fire safety system, which makes it possible to evacuate everyone in the building in no more than thirty-two minutes.

In the spring of 2006, the brutality of the supervisors provoked a pogrom at the construction site of the future Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai. Two and a half thousand workers, unable to tolerate the nagging of the guards, beat them, and then, in a fit of anger, began to destroy the construction headquarters, burn branded cars, destroy equipment, and break into safes. The next day they demanded that the employer, Al Naboodah Laing O'Rourke, raise wages and improve working conditions, otherwise they threatened to go on a long-term strike. The workers were also joined by numerous construction workers of the new airport terminal.

It turned out that the height of the tower could be higher. Surprisingly, the endless upward growth was stopped not by a technical, but by an economic reason: in order to find funds to continue construction, it was necessary to sell a large amount of residential space. Perhaps that is why this building has such a slender silhouette.

The tower was planned to open on September 9, 2009, together with the Dubai Metro. However, the developer's financial problems did not allow this to happen. The solemn event took place in early January of the following year.

Features of the skyscraper project

The Burj Khalifa tower (its height, by the way, is 828 meters) was built according to the “city within a city” project, the author of which was Adrian Smith, an American architect with experience in designing similar structures.

Being in fact the core element of the new business center in Dubai, the building was created according to the principle of a vertical city. The floors in it are arranged in blocks and have different functions. Thirty-five of them are given to offices, thirty-seven to hotel rooms and apartments, the design of which was developed by Giorgio Armani himself.

There are shopping centers and about nine hundred apartments. The hundredth floor with three apartments of 500 square meters each was purchased by the Indian billionaire B. R. Shetty.

The artificial tower rising above the main building, in addition to its decorative function, also has a communication function, as it is equipped with modern telecommunications equipment. Three floors underground are occupied by a parking lot that can accommodate three thousand cars. A turbine 61 meters long, rotated by the wind, and solar panels with an area of ​​approximately 15 thousand meters are installed. All this was done so that the tower could independently produce electrical energy for itself.

The building was equipped with special solar protection and reflective glass panels that reduce indoor heating. This, in turn, reduced the need for air conditioning. The building's air conditioning system itself is quite unique. Air flows are carried out throughout the tower from bottom to top. In this case, underground modules and sea water are used for cooling.

The building has about sixty elevators reaching speeds of up to 65 km/h. In less than a minute you will find yourself at the top of the tallest building in the world.

The tourist part of the tower has magnificent interiors. On the one hundred and twenty-second floor there is the Atmosphere restaurant with eighty seats.

At one hundred and twenty-three and one hundred and twenty-four there is a lobby and a wonderful observation deck. The latter is located at an altitude of five hundred and five meters from the base. Most of it is glazed. Visitors have the opportunity to view the surrounding area through electronic telescopes.

In addition to the real picture, a recording of the historical, day and night panoramas of Dubai is viewed through computers with cameras installed on the floor.

You can stay on the observation deck as much as you like, but getting there is not so easy. It is advisable to purchase tickets in advance; they sell out very quickly. The observation deck, accessible to tourists, offers a magnificent view of the city. You can explore its old part, the port, Dubai Creek, the airport, Sharjah.

In front of the famous tower there is a huge (12 hectares) artificial lake, in which there is a beautiful musical fountain, which is illuminated by 6,600 light sources and 50 spotlights. The length of this majestic source is two hundred and seventy meters, the height of the jets is one hundred and fifty. The music played consists of Arabic and world works.

The Burj Khalifa in the video is a magnificent sight. But it’s even more amazing to see all this beauty with your own eyes by visiting the world’s tallest skyscraper in Dubai.

Despite the lack of time, we still decided to visit the famous Burj Khalifa tower. And they didn’t regret it at all.

The city of Dubai is known to have the tallest buildings in the world. The Burj Khalifa Tower is the tallest skyscraper not only in Dubai, but throughout the world. It resembles the shape of a giant stalagmite and is one of the main attractions of the city. The height of this building including the spire is 828 meters, and the building has 163 floors in total.

The tower was opened in early January 2010, it was originally planned to be the tallest building in the world. Even when the building was still being erected, its design height was kept secret; if a building of even greater height was designed somewhere, adjustments would be made to the project.

I will say right away that the queues at the entrance and exit, in which you can stand for about 30 minutes, slightly spoil the overall impressions of visiting this tower. But it's worth it!

Inside the complex there are apartments, shopping centers, offices and a hotel. The building has three entrances: to the hotel, to the office premises and to the apartments.

The air inside the tower is aromatized and cooled thanks to special grilles in the floor.

The glass of the building repels the rays of the sun and does not allow dust to pass through, thereby maintaining an optimal temperature in the premises. The building's surface area is approximately the size of 17 football fields.

We got to the Burj Khalifa tower itself from a nearby shopping center called Dubai Mall. When planning a trip to the tower, plan your time well, this shopping center is incredibly huge and even knowing the way, you can lose quite a lot of time.

We paid about $30 to enter the tower.

This is where the tour begins.

At the beginning, we went through metal detectors; the only thing you can take with you is drink. Then we found ourselves in a long dark corridor with a moving belt that carried us past large screens. By the way, the yellow stripes in the photo seem to be hanging in the air, although in fact they are nothing more than the borders of the wall where the new screen begins.

After driving through the corridor, we entered a high-speed elevator, which was another visual illusion. In almost complete darkness, the walls in the elevator suddenly begin to glow and the information panels light up. The elevator in the tower moves at a speed of 18 m/s and literally a minute later we found ourselves on the 124th floor and went to the observation deck.

The observation deck offers an excellent view of the entire city. All of Dubai at your fingertips. Here, for a fee, you can use a telescope and see everything up close, multi-level overpasses of road junctions, tall skyscrapers at your feet - all this is simply breathtaking.

Having thoroughly enjoyed these magnificent views, we headed back. In total, we spent almost 1.5 hours on the entire excursion.

In the evening, when the tower is illuminated, it looks like something extraordinary.

I really enjoyed the tour, except for the queues! The view from the observation deck is simply mesmerizing.

The largest city in the UAE is Dubai. Burj Khalifa is a building located in this city and recognized as the tallest in the world. The design height of the structure was carefully hidden during construction. For what? Because this tower was originally planned to be built as the tallest structure. And if somewhere in the world they decide to build a building with high performance, the construction plan for the Burj Khalifa would be changed.

History of construction

The fact that it is planned to erect the most grandiose building on the planet was officially announced by local Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Al Maktoum fourteen years ago. The tower was designed as a key building in a new area of ​​the city, which could attract tourist flow here.

At first it was called “Burj Dubai” (which in translation sounds like “Dubai Tower”), but the final stage of its construction coincided with the crisis. Due to a lack of financial resources, they turned to the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi for help. Billions of dollars in support allowed construction to continue, but the building was renamed. The Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai is named after the ruler of Abu Dhabi. He is the current President of the UAE (since 2004).

Height of Burj Khalifa in Dubai

As a result, the data was hidden until the opening of the tower. The height of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai is eight hundred twenty-eight meters! These figures are hard to believe, but they are true. The height of the topmost residential floor is five hundred and eighty-four meters. Thanks to this feature, the building rises above the entire city and is a real symbol that Dubai can be proud of.

The Burj Khalifa, whose observation deck is located at four hundred and fifty meters, surpasses in height many other buildings, including the financial center in Shanghai. However, the latter structure also has its advantages. So, despite the fact that in general the Burj Khalifa is higher than the financial center, the Shanghai observation deck is still at a higher level when compared with the site in Dubai.

What's inside the Burj Khalifa

The Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai is a kind of city that is located at a great height. The layout of the floors is made in the form of blocks, each of which has a special function. The building contains approximately nine hundred residential apartments, as well as a huge hotel and many office spaces. A three-story parking complex is designed for three thousand cars.

In addition, the tower has a large number of shopping centers. Burj Khalifa has three separate entrances. They are designed for hotels, personal apartments and offices. In addition, there are sports complexes with swimming pools, training rooms and spas. At the level of the one hundred and twenty-second floor there is a restaurant, which is considered an establishment of its kind located at the highest altitude on the entire planet.

The Burj Khalifa has special equipment that cools and aromatizes the air inside the structure. Moreover, the smell was created exclusively for this building. The glass in the tower does not allow dust particles to pass through and is able to repel solar radiation, which guarantees the maintenance of stable temperature indicators.

Also, a special brand of concrete was developed specifically for this building. It can withstand heat of about 50 degrees. The mixture of this material was laid exclusively at night, and a certain amount of ice was added to it.

Financial expenses

The Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai was built with funds in the amount of one and a half billion dollars. Moreover, this complex is also a record holder because the costs of its construction were recouped within a year after it was opened. This fact is due to the fact that the tower is extremely popular as the tallest in the world.

Even before the completion of construction work, the developer company announced back in 2009 that one square meter in the Burj Khalifa costs forty thousand dollars. Imagine that the popularity of the tower is also due to the presence of an observation deck, registration for a visit to which begins several days before the expected visit.

Records of Burj Khalifa

The whole world knows which building is most famous in Dubai. The Burj Khalifa was officially recognized as a record building, which, in addition to the above-mentioned dignity, has the largest number of floors and elevators moving at a speed of eighteen meters per second. In addition, there is a restaurant on the largest point on Earth - the establishment is located on the one hundred and twenty-second floor of the tower.

But why is the Burj Khalifa observation deck inferior in height to the Shanghai site? If the Chinese tower is equipped with a room at a level of four hundred and seventy meters, then in the United Arab Emirates it is located at a level of four hundred and fifty meters. What is the reason for this feature? This is because the tower tapers at the top of the structure, so the very top of the structure cannot accommodate people.

Who lives at the top of the Burj Khalifa

The pricing policy for real estate in Dubai is much more affordable than, for example, the cost in cities such as Moscow, London or New York. However, only real rich people can buy their own apartment in this tower. The developers do not reveal names, but many of the buyers speak about it on their own. For example, today we can confidently say that the hundredth and one hundred and first floors were purchased for personal use by the Indian billionaire Shetty. The cost of this purchase is estimated at twenty-five million dollars.

Gold vending machines

Obviously, another feature of the described tower is connected with this. Thus, vending machines in shopping centers usually sell drinks or snacks. But this is not the case with Burj Khalifa. Today there are several machines here that sell real gold. Those who can afford to spend a lot of money buy bars that weigh from two and a half to thirty grams. The image of a tower is engraved on these gold items.

Burj Khalifa fountains

Near the skyscraper there is another attraction that Dubai is rightfully proud of. Burj Khalifa boasts a unique fountain, the most powerful on the planet, spewing water to a level that reaches one hundred meters. At the same time, he is equipped with a device that can force him to draw bizarre figures, moving to the music. In the evenings, the real show of the famous fountain begins, which “dances” to beautiful melodies, and everyone can admire this action.