Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Al Burj vs Burj Dubai vs Sears Tower vs Chicago spire

Here is some comparisons of Al Burj vs Burj Dubai vs Sears Tower vs Chicago spire.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Nakheel increases height of Tall Tower to 1.4 kilometres

Tallest skyscraper in the world will be the centrepiece of Ibn Battuta Mall.

Local developer Nakheel is finalising plans for the world's tallest tower in Dubai. The scheme involves constructing a 1.4 kilometre-tall tower next to the Ibn Battuta Mall in the Jebel Ali area.The Tall Tower project had involved plans for a 1,050 metre-tall building, but it is understood these designs have now been revised upwards to make it the tallest skyscraper in the world. At 1.4km it is almost double the height of Emaar's Burj Dubai, which is expected to reach about 815 metres, and several hundred metres taller than rival towers in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. A spokesman for Nakheel confirms designs for the tower are being finalised and says a launch is expected this year.

Earlier designs for the project showed a building with 228 floors, a four-level basement and one service sub-level – a total built-up area of 1.49 million square metres with 492,000 sq m of useable space. The tower will house offices, apartments and hotels. In the original 1,050 metre design, the highest habitable floor was at 850 metres, topped by a 200-metre central spire with a three-level function area and three service floors (MEED 10:8:08).

Nakheel's tower will be the focal point of its plans for the Ibn Battuta Mall development next to Jumeirah islands and Jumeirah Lake Towers. The Tall Tower will be flanked by about 20 smaller towers of up to 90 storeys that will be next to the revamped shopping mall. Work has started on changing the layout of the mall ahead of the proposed expansion, which will double its existing retail area to 250,000 sq m by building retail space over existing parking areas between the mall and the metro. The expansion will also include entertainment attractions and a roller-coaster on top of the mall.

The Tall Tower was originally called the Pinnacle and destined for Palm Jumeirah, before becoming part of the Dubai Waterfront scheme when it was renamed Al-Burj. The consultancy team for the tower includes UK-based WSP, US-based Leslie E Robertson Associates and Australia's Woods Bagot. The project is just one of several skyscraper projects under development in the Gulf that could claim the title of the world's tallest building. Saudi-based Kingdom Holding had planned to build a tower in Jeddah that was expected to be one mile high (1,609 metres). However, these plans are understood to have been scaled back and the final height of the building could be about 1,100 metres.

Like Nakheel's Tall Tower and the Burj Dubai, the tower will form part of a wider 5.4 sq km real estate project planned by Kingdom Holding. Another masterplanned community anchored by a tall tower is Kuwait's City of Silk. The Burj Mubarak is expected to be 1,001 metres tall. In Bahrain, Danish architect Henning Larsens Tegnestue (HLT) has completed design work for a 1,022 metre-tall tower. If all these projects go ahead, and no other 1,000 metre-plus towers are built in other regions, the Gulf will be home to the five tallest buildings in the world.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Al Burj construction photos map and plot sign

This is the Map View and the red spots are where the pics were taken from.



his is from area 1 with the red square around it, looks like the 'Tall Tower' site office.



This is a panoramic from the spot with the 5 spokes coming out of it.



This is the equipment on the 'Tall Tower' site, which the guards were so nice enough to confirm.







These two images are of the plot signs.


Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Engineering the worlds tallest towers

Engineering the worlds tallest towers, click on image for full size!

Monday, June 2, 2008

Possible Al Burj location

Here is a photo of the Al Burj location plot, you can see here very clearly where the site is in relation with Dubai Marina and JLT.


Photographer: soennecken
Date: 29/05/2008
Altitude: 20,000 ft (zoom used)