Burj Khalifa

By Kim Tae-gyu

Since 2004, Taipei 101 had enjoyed the bragging rights as the world’s tallest building at 508 meters, but as soon as Burj Khalifa opened in early 2010, the record was transferred.

The Burj Khalifa located in Dubai did not merely edge past Taipei 101 in order to top the podium. The mixed-use skyscraper soared to the pole position in convincing fashion to a height of 828 meters.

The advent of the landmark, established by Korea’s Samsung Construction & Technology (C&T), virtually renewed almost all the height-related records of man-made structures.

It is the world’s tallest structure ever built and one with most floors at 160. The process of construction itself also attracted attention with the highest vertical concrete pumping in history.

The Burj Khalifa accommodates the world’s highest outdoor observation deck, swimming pool, night club, restaurant and mosque.

Even its 58 elevators are notable. On top of the highest elevator installation, one moving directly to the observatory is the fastest in the world.

``Up to 12,000 people from such countries as India and Bangladesh worked on the global iconic building along with 160 experts from the United States, United Kingdom and Germany,’’ a Samsung official said.

``Just 34 Samsung officials managed all of them to coordinate the construction in just five years. In other words, we built up more than 150 meters every year on average.’’

In comparison, the 442-meter Sears Tower in Chicago also took five years to wrap up. This means that the speed of constructing the Burj Khalifa was more than 50 percent faster than that for the tower.

As far as safety is concerned, however, Samsung is confident that Burj Khalifa is outstanding albeit the fast construction.

``The building is designed to be a petal shape to reduce the affect of strong winds on the higher floors. In addition, it can withstand magnitude 7 earthquakes,’’ the official said.

``The entire structure is safe from lightning. Furthermore, we put shelters in a total of four floors in preparation for fires where people can stay a couple of hours awaiting rescue.’’

He added that the successful completion of Burj Khalifa is a testimony to the world-class technological competitiveness of Samsung and its partners, which participated in the historic works.

Burj Khalifa is composed of hotels, shopping malls, luxury apartments and offices as the centerpiece of Dubai’s new city.

In addition to Burj Khalifa, Samsung was responsible for creating the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

They were the world’s tallest buildings for over six years from 1998 before Taipei 101 basked in the spotlight as a new champion in 2004.