With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft) and a roof height (excluding antenna) of 828 m (2,717 ft), the Burj Khalifa is the tallest structure in the world since topping out in late 2008. Woah! Isn’t it amazing? But there are few facts which are not known to all. Let’s have a look at them.
- Burj Khalifa was originally named ‘Burj Dubai’ before its inauguration but was renamed in honor of the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
- It contains a total of 57 elevators, 8 escalators and 211 floors. The building has 2,909 stairs from the ground floor to the 160th floor and 24,348 windows, totaling 120,000 m2(1,290,000 sq ft) of glass,
- The building has 17 records in its name, including its designation as the tallest tower in the world.
- The exterior temperature at the top of the building is thought to be 6 °C (11 °F) cooler than at its base.
- The building hosts 900 private residential apartments which were sold out within eight hours of being on the market.
- Residential Apartments, Corporate offices and suites fill most of the remaining floors, except for a 122nd, 123rd and 124th floor where the At.mosphere restaurant, sky lobby and an indoor and outdoor observation deck is located respectively. An outdoor zero-entry swimming pool is located on the 76th floor of the tower.
- The building comprises of fastest double deck elevators rising and descending at up to 10 m/s (33 ft/s).
- The Burj Khalifa’s water system supplies an average of 946,000 L (250,000 U.S. gal) of water per day through 100 km (62 mi) of pipes. An additional 213 km (132 mi) of piping serves the fire emergency system, and 34 km (21 mi) supplies chilled water for the air conditioning system.
- At peak cooling times, the tower’s cooling is equivalent to that provided by 13,000 short tons (26,000,000 lb) of melting ice in one day, or about 46 MW.
- Under normal conditions, when all building maintenance units are operational, it takes 36 workers three to four months to clean the entire exterior façade.
- During low tides and clearness, people can see the shores of Iran from the top of the skyscraper.
- Pressurized, air-conditioned refuge floors are located approximately every 35 floors of the building where people can shelter on their long walk down to safety in case of an emergency or fire.
- During construction in summer months, concrete was not poured during the day due to high temperatures reaching upto 50 °C (122 °F). Instead, ice was added to the mixture and it was poured at night when the air is cooler and the humidity is higher. A cooler concrete mixture cures evenly throughout and is, therefore, less likely to set too quickly and crack.
- At the higher floors of the Burj, people can still see the sun for a couple of minutes after it has set on the ground. This has led Dubai clerics to rule that those living above the 80th floor should wait 2 additional minutes to break their Ramadan fast, and those living above the 150th floor, 3 minutes.
Isn’t it amazing!
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