Burj Khalifa;World's Tallest Skyscraper

[homeforsummer]

Literally, surely the oxygen levels are quite low at that height?

At 800-odd meters above sea level? No, not really. There are 34 mountains in the UK with higher peaks than the Burj and you hardly need breathing apparatus to scale them...

 

[wfooshee]

^^^^^ It's not as high as say, El Paso, Texas. There's people walking around there all the time.

 

[CDailey]

This building really reminds me of the Citadel from Half Life 2.

 

[buickgnx88]

Any pics from the top of the Burj?

 

[GT Pro]

The Burj reminds me of something out of those scary movie/game scenarios where an evil corporation, villain or alien race lands on Earth with the object of controlling the Earth from their hugely intimidating sky-high towers (see Resistance, Jak and Daxter, Devil May Cry).

 

[Public'sTwin]

The Burj reminds me of something out of those scary movie/game scenarios where an evil corporation, villain or alien race lands on Earth with the object of controlling the Earth from their hugely intimidating sky-high towers (see Resistance, Jak and Daxter, Devil May Cry).

So the tower's already clichéd then? Sweet!

 

[homeforsummer]

^^^^^ It's not as high as say, El Paso, Texas. There's people walking around there all the time.

Indeed. Or Flagstaff, AZ which I visited a couple of years ago at 2106m. Though there the air was noticeably thinner for someone who is used to living at much lower elevations - we found ourselves getting tired, and indeed able to get quite drunk, quite easily.

What I do expect is that it's probably quite windy at the top of the Burj with nothing around it acting as a wind-break.

@HOMEFORSUMMER, next time you wanna visit Dubai, or anyone else who wants to visit, gimme a shout and we'll hook up and i'll show you through Dubai!

Just seen this post, apologies for not replying sooner. I think I'm pretty well set for tour guides to be honest, my girlfriend lived out there for ten years and her parents still do!

 

[Bram Turismo]

Literally, surely the oxygen levels are quite low at that height?

Whoever bought whould probably pass-out on their way up the stairs at the 150th floor!

You don't even notice the difference at that height. When we climb the mountain in our backyard, literally, we don't notice the difference before we get to around 1300-1500 metres above sea level. From there you notice it much quicker as you suddenly start breathing as if you are running while you are actually just climbing. As long as you're not doing heavy activities at such heights, oxygen levels are no problem. For instance, when skydiving, anything at or below 14,000 feet is considered safe for jumping without an oxygen mask. Anything higher, and they'll jump with one.

 

[jedaye]

I'm born in Dubai and I'm currently living in New Zealand. My parents told me that they regret leaving Dubai, just imagine what life would have been like.....

 

[TAFKADY]

Insanity... Amazing images!

 

[Sharky.]

I have a not-insignificant fear of heights, and the Burj scares the hell out of me (818m tall, could they have made it any taller? lol) Just the thought of it nearly gives me a heart attack

Real feat of engineering though - a half-mile tall and it hasn't fallen over yet...!

 

[hellnback]

No-one mentions it's now been officially opened???

I think it's now officially listed at 828.15m

It's been renamed with the name reflecting the person who has saved Dubai's financial 'situation'.

Public viewing deck open soon but quite alot under the full height, but quite comfortably above previous record.

 

[Boffin]

It's been renamed with the name reflecting the person who has saved Dubai's financial 'situation'.

Twazzock Tower?

 

[homeforsummer]

My girlfriend mentioned the other day that it's been opened, but I forgot about this thread. We're going back in April so if I go up it I'll bring back pics

 

[Robin]

Heres the video of the opening ceremony, amazing display especially when the fireworks are running up and down the whole tower. I can see this being one of the best new years display locations in the future.



Robin.

 

[Omnis]

I like how they took all these songs and made bobo knockoff vesions of them.

 

[Lucas]

I can see this being one of the best new years display locations in the future.

Robin.

Exactly what I was thinking when I saw the inauguration. Can't wait for 2011.

 

[UnoMOTO]

Simply stunning! The ability that man has to create such things amazes me. Not just the building but the fountains, fireworks and lighting displays.

 

[GT Pro]

Unfortunately, or rather fortunately (if you are humanitarian at all), this will probably be the last major engineering marvel made by Dubai for quite some time. Financial woes have ensured that another project - an air-conditioned beach (cooling-pipes running under the sand) - will never come to fruition. At least not any time soon.

Oh, and check the link. It may be an eye-opener.

 

[McLaren]

I knew quite a bit about the slaves & their false hopes luring them in. The rest is very scary & at the same time, not surprising. The rich are ignorant & uncaring, while the poor are treated like dog poo & covered up as just unhappy campers.

I would not be surprised if much of the UAE is like that.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Isn't Dubai like broke now? I read somewhere in Time Magazine I think that this building's financiers are having trouble paying the "mortgages" on this behemoth.

 

[homeforsummer]

So I've now been up the Burj Khalifa...

...to which the thread needs renaming! I'm out here in Dubai at the moment (stuck, incidentally, thanks to the ash cloud over Europe) and yesterday I took a trip up to the viewing deck on the 124th floor.

Some interesting points to note - although the structure is 828m tall and there are 206 storeys (160 of which are habitable - the rest are maintenance storeys in the spire), the viewing deck is only on the 124th floor, and at 442m. There's still a hell of a lot of building above you! The viewing deck is partially outdoor, however - there are massive glass panes in front of you and a solid floor beneath you, but there's no roof to speak of and there are gaps in the panes so you can stick your hands out into the air.

The elevators to get up there are quite amazing. They're the worlds fastest, at 40mph. Strangely though, unlike the one I've been up in Sears Tower, which is much slower, you barely feel it accelerating or moving at all, certainly not on the way up. The only indication your elevation is changing is when your ears start popping.

It's all very tasteful too. You can tell how proud Dubai is of the Burj, and they put a lot of effort into all the information boards at ground level explaining how it was designed, built and maintained.

The sense of scale is odd. Sears Tower felt quite tall to me, but doesn't look it from the ground especially as it's in the middle of a city and surrounded by other skyscrapers. The Burj looks massive from the ground, but then there's nothing nearby by which to judge the scale so you can't tell just how tall it is until you go up it, when you are then looking far down on what, by anyone's standards, are very tall buildings.

To illustrate, this is a view I took from Sheikh Zayed road, the main road running between Dubai's skyscrapers (visible also is the UAE's new metro system, and one of the stations, in the bottom right of the image):

And here is the same road and same skyscrapers viewed from the Burj...

Looking towards the Burj al Arab, the famous 7* hotel. Unfortunately, cities like Dubai are often shrouded by sandy, and probably smoggy air, hence the poor view. Visible behind out into the water is Palm Jumeirah, one of the famous palm-shaped developments. I've driven onto it, and it's massive.

A view looking up from the 124th floor viewing deck:

Views of the Dubai fountain and Downtown Burj Dubai. The skyscraper you're looking down on is The Address, a hotel and residential building. It's 306 metres tall and has 63 floors, which gives you an idea of the scale...

And again, worth bearing in mind that this was from the 124th floor, rather than the 160th, or up on the 206th...

I've got plenty more but uploading is proving slow and painful...

 

[McLaren]

If I'm not mistaken, isn't that mall of Dubai down below as well?

 

[homeforsummer]

Dubai mall is just to the left of the image, next to The Address. The buildings in the centre of the frame are a Souk, and probably hotels.

Dubai Mall is massive too though. Biggest mall in the world, I think.

Edit: Better picture, showing some of the mall as well:

 

[hellnback]

Really, I have to say it, a viewing platform at 442m on a 828m building is pretty pathetic. Well, outrageously terrible actually.

I mean it's only just over half way up the TOTAL height (53%)... HALF!!!

They really should be embarrassed... ashamed...

 

[wfooshee]

People on the higher floors don't want to deal with the riff-raff tourists.

 

[tyl0r_r]

I'm glad somebody topped the CN Tower. I'm Canadian and have been there and that tower is incredibly pointless and ugly.

 

[TheCracker]

Is the pale blue lagoon in the complex an oversized swimming pool, a boating lake or just an ornamental pond?

 

[Omnis]

What I don't understand about Dubai is how freaking ugly and out of place everything is. All the skyscrapers look completely ridiculous sitting out there in the sand like that. And the Burj looks ridiculous sitting out there with those other buildings (can't really call them skyscrapers anymore).

 

[Keef]

What I don't understand about Dubai is how freaking ugly and out of place everything is. All the skyscrapers look completely ridiculous sitting out there in the sand like that. And the Burj looks ridiculous sitting out there with those other buildings (can't really call them skyscrapers anymore).

Yeah, most of the buildings don't even have roads going to them. There's like an interstate highway going down the middle with tall plastic-looking towers right next to it, but no exits, no way to get to them, no traffic lights, and a bunch of dirt. It looks so poorly planned and developed. Are they seriously going to fill all the empty space with buildings just like that? Sounds ridiculous.