Burj Dubai tier methodology

Burj Dubai tier methodology to help show which direction the terraces face. A 360 degree directional compass was used for the approximate direction the points of the wings face.

Tier 30 Top is a platform 1.5 M diameter with a hatch.
Tier 30 - pinnacle 4 is circular 1.2 M diameter.
Tier 29 - pinnacle 3 is circular 1.35 M diameter.
Tier 28 - pinnacle 2 is circular 1.5 M diameter.
Tier 27 - pinnacle 1 begins with tier 26 terrace facing 180, then rises up circular 2.1 M diameter.

Tier 24, 25, and 26 wings are 1.5 M long.
Tier 26 - spire 5 begins with tier 25 terrace facing 60 then rises up with 1 wing facing 180.
Tier 25 - spire 4 begins with tier 24 terrace facing 300 then rises up with 2 wings facing 60 and 180.
Tier 24 - spire 3 begins with tier 23 terrace facing 240 then rises up symmetrically with 3 wings facing 60, 180, and 300.

Tier 21, 22, and 23 wings are 6 M long.
Tier 23 - spire 2 begins with tier 22 terrace facing 120 then rises up with 1 wing facing 240.
Tier 22 - spire 1/roof 4 begins with tier 21 terrace facing 0 then rises up with 2 wings facing 120 and 240.
Tier 21 - roof 3 begins with tier 20 terrace facing 240 then rises up symmetrically with 3 wings facing 0, 120, and 240.

Tier 18, 19, and 20 wings are 6 M long.
Tier 20 - roof 2 begins with tier 19 terrace facing 120 then rises up with 1 wing facing 240.
Tier 19 - roof 1 begins with tier 18 terrace facing 0 then rises up with 2 wings facing 120 and 240.
Tier 18 begins with Tier 17 terrace facing 300 then rises up symmetrically with 3 wings facing 0, 120, and 240.

They are working on the first level / section of tier 18. We can see the terrace faces opposite of the shot - 300 degrees and the 3 wings of tier 18 facing 0, 120, and 240 degrees. Then tier 18 top (first section of tier 19 terrace) faces 0 degrees (North) or where Ember's 20 is. The methodology can then be followed to get the rest. Also tier 27 to 30 are circular.

Burj Dubai April 22nd 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai April 22nd 2008 photo update, here is some nice shots taken on April 16th 2008 of the Burj Dubai.. They show the progress of the cladding and a couple shots of the top of the Burj Dubai.

Photos taken from Burj Dubai cranes

Here is a photo of the Burj Dubai and a photo taken from the crane, we can see how each tier is going to be layed out as the Burj Dubai progresses.

Keeping the Burj Dubai Cool part 2

Keeping the Burj Dubai Cool part 2, here is some photos of the chillers and equipment that will go into keeping the 160 story Burj Dubai cool.

Burj Dubai April 21st 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai April 21st 2008 photo update, a nice photo of the Burj Dubai taken today.

Keeping the Burj Dubai Cool

Cool runnings

Keeping over 160 floors of residential, hotel and commercial premises constantly at their desired temperatures is no mean task. Add the need for energy efficiency to the list and the MEP consultants and contractors had a large task on their hands. How do you provide cooling to a mixed-use building of more than 160-storeys while maintaining energy efficient standards? The MEP consultants at the Burj Dubai have opted for a district cooling system with ice thermal storage and a mix of air handling units and fan coil units to serve local zones within the structure.

A 13,000TR district cooling plant will serve the Burj Dubai and Dubai Mall that lies within the Downtown Burj development. A total of 45.7MW of cooling will be needed for the Burj Dubai tower itself. The supply of chilled water to the tower is carried out by a forced pump system. The primary chilled water is pumped in 750mm flow and return pipes from the Emaar district cooling plant to the tower basement, which is the heart of the building from the mechanical services viewpoint.

It is then distributed to the upper levels of the building via 600mm diameter pipes within a main riser in the central core of the tower; the pipes reduce to 450mm diameter at height due to the reduced amount of water needed in the smaller, upper-level floors. "The district cooling plant is a self-contained unit with its own chillers and cooling towers," explains Greg Sang, Emaar assistant director - projects. "[It] has a primary chilled water loop and from this a secondary chilled water loop is routed through a service culvert in Dubai Mall, with connections to the Mall before entering the basement level of Burj Dubai.

There is a set of primary pumps at the point of entry to the main chilled water distribution plant within the Burj Dubai. These pumps are on the primary side of a number of heat exchangers sets whose secondary sides feed the various different cooling circuit zones in podium and tower areas via secondary pumps. The basement heat exchangers provide hydraulic separation between the district cooling plant distribution system and the high pressures that exist in certain parts of the tower that are created by the extreme height of the building.

From basement level the chilled water is pumped to plantrooms at levels 17, and thereafter to further plantrooms at levels 40, 73, 109 and 139 prior to local distribution to air handling units and fan coil units. Supplied from the district cooling plant at a flow temperature of 3.3°C, the temperature of the chilled water increases as it is distributed vertically in the building. It returns to the district cooling plant at 12.1°C. The peak chilled water flow rate through the system is 1,245 litres/s (1.245m3/s).

"There are a number of different zones within the building operating at different flow rates and pressures," explains Sang. "The highest pressure, largest capacity set of four duty pumps in the tower are located on level 17 and operate at a flow rate of 185 litres/s, each at a working pressure of approximately 28 bar," he adds. At a local level, the hotel rooms and private residential apartments will all be provided with air conditioning via fan coil units. The boutique offices located at the higher levels of the building will be served by a combination of fan coil and variable air volume (VAV) units.

Meanwhile, the public areas such as the podium and restaurants will be fed via central air handling units that are zoned in relation to the different uses of each individual area. The use of fan coil units is ideal for this project due to the zoning of the overall floor areas that is necessary to maintain the building's structural integrity, explains Hyder Consulting senior mechanical engineer Alastair Mitchell.

Preparing for failure

Back-up systems have been provided throughout the chilled water distribution system. Standby pumps have been included on every circuit and, unusually, a spare heat exchanger has been included in every heat exchanger set. In addition, preparations have been made to ensure a certain degree of cooling can be maintained in the event of a mains power failure. The building's standby generation system will supply power to some of the chilled water distribution pumps.

And the potential failure of the district cooling plant has not been forgotten: "If there were ever to be a significant failure [in the district cooling plant] there is a changeover arrangement whereby we can connect the tower to an alternative district cooling plant and run at reduced capacity," explains Mitchell. "We would have to revise our primary pumps [for the task]; they operate in parallel [during normal operation], but there's a special bypass arrangement being installed where we can operate these in series," he adds.

There's four pumps in parallel, but we can change this to two sets of two pumps in series to generate the additional head needed to get the water from the alternative district cooling plant," Mitchell explains. Installation of the chilled water system is at an advanced stage, with main riser pipes already beyond level 109 and work underway within the level 109 chilled water plantroom. There is one further plantroom to undertake, that located at level 136.

Ice cool operations

To further increase the energy efficiency of the Burj Dubai cooling system, an ice thermal storage system is being employed within the district cooling plant serving the tower. This helps to reduce power consumption in the daytime and high-load conditions, explains Greg Sang, Emaar assistant director - projects.

The system involves the use of a store of ice slurry to reduce the temperature of the chilled water. The ice is created during off-peak periods and through the night-time and held within a thermal storage unit for use when required.

The system is now commonly used in the USA and Europe for commercial and district cooling applications; it is believed that the system at the Burj Dubai development will be the first to be employed in the Middle East. In general, the use of an ice storage system can reduce the total installed chiller capacity by up to 35%.

The latent energy stored in ice is eight times greater than that possible with a similar volume of chilled water, which makes such systems favourable for large district cooling plants. Further benefits include a reduction of 30-40% in the size and cost of all auxiliary equipment needed and the ability to deliver chilled water at lower temperatures than would normally be possible from chillers, enabling the use of smaller equipment such as pipes and pumps, hence lower capital costs.

Burj Dubai April 20th 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai April 20th 2008 photo update, this photo is a little old but its a super shot of the Burj Dubai.

Burj Dubai April 19th 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai April 19th 2008 photo update, 8th steel section is up! the Burj Dubai now stands at 637 meters in height.

Burj Dubai is the height of success

Dubai: The sky's the limit for building a tall tower today, says Greg Sang, projects director of Emaar Properties, who is overseeing the construction of Burj Dubai. Asked whether building a 1km tall tower is possible, he said: "There's no limit. Anything's possible. You can design anything. It's not a technical question, but an economical one."

At the bottom of a super-tall tower there will be massively thick walls, leaving room for nothing else and hence making the floors useless. The taller the tower, the thicker the walls. "Will that be economically feasible," he asked.Burj Dubai presently at 629 metres is an impressive structure close-up. But to get an idea of the scale of this tower you have to step back all the way to Jebel Ali or catch a glimpse of it driving on Al Khail Road. It is said that when the tower is completed, the top of the spire will visible 95 kilometres away. Highest observatory I was itching to get to the top but Sang nixed the idea citing safety reasons. Construction is going on at a hectic pace and once you book a hoist you have to keep to the schedule. From the Burj's sales centre nearby I could see elevators busily moving up and down in slow motion.

When the observatory is built at the top, it will be the world's highest deck accessible to the publicOne can be taken there by an elevator travelling at 10 metres per second. "This has broken all sorts of records. It is the tallest man-made structure built on the planet," said the project director, who has 7,000 workers on the site, besides a 300-strong management, supervision staff and contractors and engineers. "It is a huge achievement for Dubai."

The challenge for such tall structures is how to tackle the powerful winds at that height. Technology allows the building to sway while an internal damping devise absorbs the wind energy and stabilises the building.

Burj Dubai will sway 1.5 metres, that's about the height of an average person. Asked whether people on the top will get seasick, Sang gave an analogy"When a building sways, what people feel is not the amount of movement, they feel the acceleration and deceleration. As an example, if you are driving your car at a constant speed of 100km/h you don't feel any motion. But step on the brakes or the accelerator, that's when you feel it. The motion is below the acceptable limits," he said. Asked what it is about tall towers that fascinate people, Sang said it goes back thousands of years to the Tower of Babel.

"The height says something about the strength of the economy. He said in the 1900s when skyscrapers were first built in the United States, it wanted to show industrial might. Then in the 1980s to the 1990s, when Asian economies took off, there were structures like the Petronas Towers in Malaysia and Taipei 101 in Taiwan. "Now it is the Middle East where the growth rates are in double digits," he said.

Ron Klemencic, chairman of the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, has remarked that once buildings get above 80 storeys or so they start to lose their economic viability. "Beyond 80 floors prestige is the driving factor," he said. But Sang said highrises make a lot of sense because they are efficient. When you have such a dense population in one place, per capita energy consumption is a fraction of that in villas in the suburbs, he said. And you don't have to hop into your gas-guzzling SUV to go shopping. The mixed-use Burj will have 35,000 people living and working in the tower

Base jumper aims too high at Burj Dubai

Dubai: An ambitious base jumper who wanted to jump off the world's tallest building, the Burj Dubai, ended up high and dry, in jail. The unidentified base-jumper had made his way to Burj Dubai equipped with his parachute.

Security guards stopped him because he did not have the right permission. The European national was not to be dissuaded so easily though, and he ran to the tower and proceeded to climb up. He said he wanted to jump off one of Dubai's landmarks.

Police were alerted and a squad was dispatched to Burj Dubai. He was caught before he could climb much higher. Brigadier Abdul Jalil Mahdi, Deputy Director of Dubai police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for Preventative Security, said if the man had had permission, he would have been allowed to jump, but without permission, it wa a violation of safety and security procedures.

He said the man is currently out on bail, but the case will be referred to the Public Prosecution. Base jumping is a sport using a parachute to jump from fixed objects such as buildings and towers.

Burj Dubai April 16th 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai April 16th 2008 photo update, here is some nice photos of the Burj Dubai and downtown Dubai. also a nice photo of the top of the Burj Dubai at level 7 steel work.

Detail diagram of Burj Dubai April 15th 2008

The stairwell starts at lev160mezz and reaches tier23. from tier23-24 is ladder access. then from tier24-27 is internal ladder access inside pinnacle. (the 156m long pinnacle actually has internal ladder the whole way from tier20B). As for lift runs. the longest is 514m to lev140. from there you can catch more lifts to lev154office.also the lift runs terminates at 160mezz levels. there is also the express lift to lev124 observation deck) added ob decks for eiffle,cn tower, esb and sears, steel is now on the 8th level.

Detail diagram of Burj Dubai April 14th 2008

Detail diagram of Burj Dubai April 14th 2008, the cladding is now up to lev132 or just below tier12/503m, steel still upto 630m (645m above slab) the cranes have risen /the cabins now 30m above top (660m), crane arms (55m long) now over 700m high the cranes shaft is now 86m long (starts at tier15)

Burj Dubai April 13th 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai April 13th 2008 photo update, the first photo was taken in the Badger Bazzret earea. the second and third photo are night shots of the Burj Dubai.

Burj Dubai April 12th 2008 photo update 2

Burj Dubai April 12th 2008 photo update 2, here is some up close photos of the top of the Burj Dubai. the other photos show the cladding progress and the skyline of Dubai.

Burj Dubai April 12th 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai April 12th 2008 photo update, here is some random photos of the Burj Dubai and the skyline of Dubai.

Seven architectural wonders chosen

NEW YORK (AP) - From the tall tower in Dubai to the new addition at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, noteworthy architecture is springing up around the globe. Conde Nast Traveler's April issue picks seven designs as the "new seven wonders of the architecture world." They are:

* Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, which is under construction in the Middle East and is already more than 1,700 feet (518 metres) tall. The final height is a secret but its developer, Emaar Properties, has previously said it will stop somewhere above 2,275 feet (693 metres) and will exceed 160 floors.

* The Crystal, the controversial new entryway and exhibit space at the Royal Ontario Museum, whose sharp, jagged angles have not been universally loved by the locals. It was designed by Daniel Libeskind.

* Cumulus, an exhibit hall at Danfoss Universe, a science and technology museum in Nordborg, Denmark. The building has an irregular roof, all curves and angles, like a bite taken out of a cloud.

* London's new Wembley Stadium, which seats 90,000 with no obstructed sight lines. A massive 133-metre-tall, 300-metre-long single arch braces the retractable roof. The stadium will be a centrepiece of the 2012 Olympics.

* New Museum of Contemporary Art, designed to resemble an off-kilter stack of silvery rectangles, located on the Bowery on Manhattan's once-seedy, now-trendy Lower East Side.

* Kogod Courtyard, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., a curved roof made from a patterned grid of glass and steel above shallow pools in the courtyard of the Old Patent Office Building, also known as the Reynolds Center and home to the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.

* Red Ribbon, Tanghe River Park, in Qinhuangdao, China, about 290 kilometres east of Beijing, a steel bench that runs half a kilometre through a riverbank garden and ecological oasis.

Burj Dubai April 11th 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai April 11th 2008 photo update, with over 160 storeys now, the most number of liveable floors in any building in the world, Burj Dubai is already pushing the frontiers in architecture, construction and engineering excellence.

Mile-high tower: Saudi prince promises £5bn desert spire TWICE as tall as nearest rival being built

On a clear day, the view from the top will take in the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Ocean - providing you've a head for heights. Plans for a mile-high tower in the Saudi Arabian desert have been unveiled by the billionaire owner of London's Savoy Hotel.

At 5,250ft, the £5billion project, masterminded by two British engineering consultancies, will be twice as high as its nearest rivals, skyscrapers under construction in Dubai and Kuwait, and almost seven times as high as the Canary Wharf tower in London's Docklands.

It is being planned for a new city near the Red Sea port of Jeddah. Behind the scheme is 51-year-old Prince al-Walid bin Talal, who bought the Savoy for £1.25billion in 2005. The plan gives the Middle East a clear lead over Asian countries and the U.S., who have vied in the past to construct the world's tallest buildings.

None of the other skyscrapers under construction, including New York's Freedom Tower on the World Trade Centre site, will exceed 2,296ft. The prince's company, Riyadh-based Kingdom Holdings, has set up a joint venture with the London firms Hyder Consulting and Arup.

Experts say the technical challenges are enormous. Much of the lifting will be carried out by helicopters, which will also be used as commuter transport for builders. The tower will have to be capable of withstanding a wide range of temperatures, with its top baking in the desert sun by day but dropping to well below freezing at night.

To resist the strong winds prevalent in the area and stop it swaying, giving its occupants a form of high-rise seasickness, it will be fitted with a giant computer-operated damper. Two "mini-towers" - both taller than Canary Wharf - will be built on either side of the main tower. Linked to it by elevated walkways, they will anchor it and act as stabilisers.

Until recently, the still-under-construction Dubai Tower was expected to be the world's tallest building. Plans have changed several times to make it higher, but the final version is expected to be 2,300ft with 160 storeys.

Detail diagram of Burj Dubai April 9th 2008

Detail diagram of Burj Dubai April 9th 2008, facade, and underground details were added to this diagram. The Burj Dubai is currently at level 160 if your counting floors.

Burj Dubai April 9th 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai April 9th 2008 photo update, Steelwork in place for the 8th level of steel to start. If you look at the last photo it looks as if the Burj Dubai tower is bending a little.

Burj Dubai surpasses KVLY-TV mast to become the world’s tallest man-made structure

Dubai, UAE; April 7, 2008: Burj Dubai, the iconic high-rise developed by Dubai-based Emaar Properties PJSC, has surpassed the height of the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, USA, to become the world’s tallest man-made structure. Burj Dubai is now 629 metres (2,063.6 ft) high while KVLY-TV, which holds the record for the world’s tallest supported structure since 1963, has a height of 628.8 metres (2,063 ft).

Burj Dubai is already the world’s tallest building and tallest free-standing structure, and at 160 storeys, is taller than Taipei 101 (508 metres; 1667 ft) in Taiwan and CN Tower (553.33 metres; 1815.5 ft) in Toronto, Canada. Burj Dubai is billed to meet all four criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which classifies the world’s tallest structures. CTBUH measures the height of buildings to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof and the tip of the spire, pinnacle, antenna, mast or flag pole.

The KVLY-TV mast in Blanchard, North Dakota, is a television transmitting mast, which was completed in 1963. Burj Dubai also towers over KXJB-TV, which at 628 metres (2,060 ft) was the second tallest artificial structure in the world, and the KXTV/KOVR Tower, a guyed communication tower in Walnut Grove, California, that rises to 624.5 metres (2,049 ft).

Mr Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties, said: “Emaar’s Burj Dubai has accomplished another milestone in its development, placing the city of Dubai and Burj Dubai once again in the global spotlight. With over 160 storeys now, the most number of liveable floors in any building in the world, Burj Dubai is already pushing the frontiers in architecture, construction and engineering excellence.”

He added: “The significance of Burj Dubai surpassing the height of the KVLY-TV mast is that it demonstrates the pioneering achievement of mankind in creating urban environments that defy conventions. With over 5,000 professionals and skilled workers from around the world working on site, Burj Dubai’s new feat is another celebration of teamwork.”

When completed, Burj Dubai will have used 330,000 cubic meters of concrete, 39,000 metric tons of steel rebar and 142,000 sq m of glass.

Emaar is partnering with South Korean construction major Samsung Corporation and New York-based Project Manager Turner Construction in constructing Burj Dubai, which was designed by Adrian Smith and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill of Chicago.

Burj Dubai, the centerpiece of Emaar’s flagship mega-project, the AED 73 billion (US$20 billion) Downtown Burj Dubai, will feature residences, commercial space and retail space and hospitality elements including the world’s first Armani Hotel and Armani Residences.

Downtown Burj Dubai is regarded as the new centre of Dubai and already has a thriving community of residents. Homes have been handed over to the owners in The Residences and The Old Town. Three hospitality projects – Al Manzil, Qamardeen and The Palace, The Old Town – have opened apart from Souk Al Bahar, a shopping mall inspired by Arabesque architectural elements. The Dubai Mall, one of the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destinations, is in close proximity to Burj Dubai and will open later this year.

Burj Dubai is world's tallest man-made structure

Dubai: Burj Dubai has surpassed the United States’ KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota to become the world’s tallest man-made structure. Burj Dubai is now 629 metres high while KVLY-TV, which held the record for the world’s tallest supported structure since 1963, has a height of 628.8 metres.

Burj Dubai is already the world’s tallest building, and at 160 storeys, is taller than Taipei 101 (508 metres) in Taiwan and CN Tower (553.33 metres) in Canada. Burj Dubai is billed to meet all four criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which classifies the world’s tallest structures.

CTBUH measures the height of buildings to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof and the tip of the spire, pinnacle, antenna, mast or flagpole. The KVLY-TV mast in Blanchard, North Dakota, is a television transmitting mast, which was completed in 1963.

Burj Dubai April 7th 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai April 7th 2008 photo update, at the current rate of progress work on level 8 will soon begin. The Burj Dubai is about to reach the current world tallest structure mark.