Add listing Log in

On the shoulders of giants

01.11.2009
Author: Egor SHARAI
65
In January, the Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world, reached its final height of 818 m. The completion of the construction, despite the natural and economic elements, becomes a kind of symbol of the power of the emirate.
Projects of incredible scale and ambition have consolidated the fame of Dubai as the "eighth wonder of the world". Construction work on the world's tallest skyscraper, Burj Dubai, is nearing completion, which, according to residents and authorities of the emirate, should symbolize Dubai's triumph over the global crisis.

The construction of the skyscraper began in 2004 and proceeded at a rate of 1-2 floors per week. On January 17, 2009, Burj Dubai reached its final height of 818 m.

Despite the force of gravity
A city in the sky, Burj Dubai represents the pinnacle of engineering, which is based on more than a century of experience of skyscraper builders.
A breakthrough in the construction of buildings occurred in the 19th century, when specialists solved the problem of lifting residents to the upper floors and invented the first electric elevator. Since then, the growth of buildings has been unstoppable. Elevators have made a real revolution in the real estate market. After all, it is on the upper floors that more sunlight and fresh air enter, less noise from cars. For these reasons, people began to strive more and more to live as close to heaven as possible.
In the 160-storey Burj Dubai, the idea of an elevator has received the most impressive embodiment. Almost 35,000 people will be able to stay in the tower at the same time, and all of them must move around the building – thus, the height and scale of the skyscraper required almost impossible things from the engineers developing the lifts. To cope with the huge human flow, the Burj Dubai project provides 53 elevators, some of which reach speeds of over 35 km per hour and climb 120 floors in less than 50 seconds. The largest of them can accommodate up to 46 passengers.
The Flatiron Building, which was only 87 m high, became the first skyscraper to be named a symbol of New York. It was in its construction that the architects first used a steel frame system, which made it possible to lighten and at the same time strengthen the structure of the entire building. The steel frame was a big step in the history of skyscrapers and led to the emergence of a new generation of buildings. If you bring the idea of a steel frame to perfection, then hypothetically you can build a building of any height. The frame in Burj Dubai combines all the best that can be found in steel and concrete.

Contrary to the sun
Glass curtain walls are attached to a reinforced concrete frame with more than 30,000 tons of steel. The wall panels are rigid, and the connections between them are movable. If someone in the tower moves heavy furniture to the outer wall, the floor will tilt and the wall will fall down, but the movable joints compensate for the shift. In addition, they compensate for the expansion and contraction of rigid sections under the influence of temperature when the sun bypasses the skyscraper from east to west. But how to prevent the scorching sun from turning a glass tower into a giant oven?! To defeat this "old enemy" of the UAE, it is necessary to keep the optimal temperature in the skyscraper.
When United Nations HQ, the 168-meter-high building of the new UN headquarters in New York, was designed, the architects faced the same problem. Then the issue was resolved thanks to the new air conditioning system. Climate control systems are now in place everywhere, but if ordinary glass were used in Burj Dubai, even the most powerful air conditioners would not help. The solution was glass, the outer side of which is covered with a thin layer of metal, reflects the ultraviolet and prevents the penetration of excessive heat. In order to provide protection from infrared rays, a thin layer of silver was applied to the inside of the glass.

Against the wind
No less severe than the sun, the force that the building must resist is the desert wind. In order to build the 442-meter Sears Tower in Chicago, engineers had to turn the skyscraper inside out. The higher the steel frame, the more it bends under strong winds, and the real pitching begins on the upper floors. In an effort to reduce the amplitude of vibrations, the frame was taken outside, so that the building acquired an external skeleton. But at the height of the Burj Dubai, even the rigid outer skeleton can no longer withstand the air currents.
Relieving the inhabitants of the skyscraper from seasickness, the designers turn to the most advanced aerodynamic technologies. The design of the tower does not assume flat and rectangular shapes, the sections of the tower are designed to deflect the wind and avoid it. Developing the shape of the tower, the author of the project Adrian Smith drew inspiration from considering the amazing and persistent hymenocallis flower, widespread in the Persian Gulf countries. The developer was the largest company Emaar Properties, the South Korean Samsung concern is directly engaged in the construction of the tower.

Despite earthquakes
Possible seismic activity forced Burj Dubai engineers to turn to the experience of creating the second tallest building to date, the Taipei 101 Tower. As in the Chinese high-rise, the thin steel beams in Burj Dubai can twist and stretch, absorbing the force of the tremors. But in order to build an ultra-tall building on the sand, a special approach is needed. At the construction site of the tower, the rock is shallow, but there are many cracks in it, it is fragile and unable to hold a lot of weight. Before the solid rock had to be drilled to a depth of 50 m, polymer resin was poured, which pushed out groundwater and held the sandy rock. Then concrete was poured into the well, which displaced the resin and solidified, becoming one of the foundation piles. 200 such piles prevent a tower weighing half a million tons from going underground.

Despite the crisis
But it wasn't earthquakes, winds, scorching sun, or groundwater that turned out to be the main enemies of the world's tallest building. In November, when the whole world was already engulfed by the global crisis, the whole emirate, the new business and cultural center Downtown Burj Dubai, and its heart – the tower itself - felt its first breath.
As The National reported in an article dated November 12, 2008, quoting Dubai brokers, "real estate prices in Downtown Burj Dubai have already decreased by 22%, while living space in the world's tallest building Burj Dubai has fallen in price by almost 50%." But at the beginning of the year, the announcement of the start of sales in the skyscraper caused a serious stir: more than 300 people spent the night near the office of Emaar Properties, who wanted to pay about $ 2.18 million for one-bedroom apartments in the tower itself or about $0.5 million for the same apartments in houses at the foot of Burj Dubai. A couple of months later, prices rose to a record high of $35,000 per 1 sq. m
. The time of price growth ended, and it was said that the growth of the building itself stopped with it. However, the Dubai authorities did not stop the work: despite everything, the tower was under construction. The increased attention of the Emirate government to the project and its priority status inspire confidence in good investment prospects.
It is already known that the lower 37 floors will be occupied by rooms at the Armani Hotel. Apartments with an area of up to 200 sq. m. The apartments are located from the 45th to the 108th floor inclusive. The interiors of the hotel and apartments will be designed by designers of the Armani fashion House. Above, up to the 160th floor, the skyscraper is given over to office space. The exception will be the 123rd and 124th floors, where the central lobby and an observation deck will be located, from where visitors will be able to appreciate the breathtaking view of the most fantastic metropolis of the XXI century.
According to the announced information, the opening of the Burj Dubai tower is scheduled for September 9, 2009, at the same time the first Red line of the Dubai metro will be launched. These two large-scale projects will mark a new stage in the development of Dubai and strengthen its reputation as a city where the most ambitious construction projects are being implemented. The creators of Burj Dubai say that they conceived not just "the world's tallest building", but "the highest aspiration", a global symbol of "the highest degree of endurance and endurance". And indeed, one cannot disagree with them. Standing on the shoulders of former historical engineering wonders, Burj Dubai is the world's greatest skyscraper.

0
All articles by this country
All articles
Property in UAE
Discussion