Dubai for Visitors

From its humble beginnings in the sand near Shaikh Zayed Road to its dominating presence in the Dubai skyline, we chart the rise of the Burj Dubai tower, now the tallest building in the world. Click on ‘next’ to continue.

Emaar Properties announced the plans for Burj Dubai in February 2003, and in January the following year, excavation work began for what would become the tallest building in the world.

April 2006 and the building is fast taking shape as it approaches the 50 level mark.

The previous year, a deal was signed with Giorgio Armani to open The Armani Hotel & Residences inside the tower.

October 2006. When completed, Burj Dubai will meet all four criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which classifies the world’s tallest structures.

The council measures height to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, to the top of the roof, and to the tip of the spire, pinnacle, antenna, mast or flag pole.

Burj Dubai became the tallest building in the world in just 1,276 days. This picture shows the tower against the Dubai skyline in September 2006.

More than 5,000 consultants and skilled construction workers are employed onsite, and the world’s fastest high-capacity construction hoists, with a speed of up to two metres per second, move men and materials.

Burj Dubai anchors Downtown Burj Dubai, a Dh73 billion ($20 billion) mixed-use mega project, already a bustling community described as the new ‘heart of the city.’ Here is the tower in December 2006.

The tower reached 100 levels in January 2007. A month later it surpassed the Sears Tower in Chicago as the building with the most floors in the world.

Late 2007 and early 2008. Burj Dubai is now the world’s tallest building and tallest man-made structure, having recently surpassed the height of the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, USA.

In May 2008, the Burj recorded another global first with the installation of glass panels at a height of 512 metres. it is due for completion in 2009.