Dubai will be home of at least six tall towers exceeding 100 floors. Only Chicago in the world boasts of more than one super tower.
Chicago Super Towers
1. Sears Towers: (standing at 1,450 feet and 110 stories high, Sears Tower , Chicago is the tallest building in North America and the third tallest building in the world.)
2. John Hancock Center: (being 100-storey 1,127-foot (344 m) tall skyscraper, when completed in 1969, it was the tallest building in the world outside NY city. It is the third-tallestskyscraper in Chicago and the fifth-tallest in the US, after the Sears Tower, the Empire State Building, theBank Of America Tower and the Aon Center)
3. South Dearborn Tower: (the 118-floor 7 South Dearborn tower is still under construction inChicago, US. It would have been 2,000 feet (610 m) high and at the intersection of Madison and Dearborn. It would also have taken the title for worlds tallest building, being 84 feet (26 m) taller than the Petronas Towers.)
Dubai Super Towers
These six super tall structures being envisaged should truly put Dubai among the Worlds Mega cities. All these towers will be ready latest by 2015.
1. Al Burj: Al Burj (meaning ‘The Tower’) is a supertall skyscraper soon to be tallest in the world (taller than Burj Dubai) proposed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates by developer Al Nakheel. The tower was originally proposed in 2004 as the centrepiece of Palm Jumeirah, one of the world’s largest man-made islands. The final height of the tower would be 1,200 m (3,937 ft), reduced from an initial height of 1,600 m (5,249 ft) or just under one mile.It was to be named “The Pinnacle” and rise from the centre of a canal on the trunk of the island.
The original design conceived by Pei Partnership Architects was to have 180+ floors comprising ultra-luxury apartments, restaurants, a large health club, and an observation deck. The building actually consisted of three separate towers built around a hollow interior and joined together by several sky bridges functioning as sky lobbies. On top of each sky bridge was a sky garden. One of the towers was shorter than the other two with a large outdoor pool on the roof, while the other two were topped with large spires. In the latest redesign the basic shape has remained the same, three towers connected by sky bridges with two twin spires and one tower shorter than the others. What has changed is the number of sky bridges: from 4 to 10. The building is also to be mixed-use rather than wholly residential.
(from left to right, Al Burj, Burj Dubai, Taipei 101, Empire State Building, The Eiffel Tower, Swiss Re Headquarters)
2. Burj Dubai: Burj Dubai (meaning “Dubai Tower”) is a skyscraper under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure on Earth. At 140 floors, it is currently the tallest structure on eatrh, taller than the worlds tallest building Taipei 101, but the const is still underprogress, which makes it the tallest structure but not the tallest building. Construction began on September 21, 2004, and it is expected to be completed and ready for occupation in September 2009 with the building 169 floors and over 800 meters high, taller than Taipei 101 by almost 40%…
The tower is designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill,who also designed the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Freedom Tower in New York City, among numerous other famous high-rises. The building resembles the bundled tube form of the Sears Tower, but is not a tube structure. The design of Burj Dubai is reminiscent of the Frank Lloyd Wright vision for The Illinois, a mile high skyscraper designed for Chicago, Illinois. Burj Dubai is expected to rise to 150% of the height of the Sears Tower. The design of Burj Dubai is ostensibly derived from the patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture. The tower is composed of three elements arranged around a central core. As the tower rises from the flat desert base, setbacks occur at each element in an upward spiralling pattern, decreasing the cross section of the tower as it reaches toward the sky. At the top, the central core emerges and is sculpted to form a finishing spire. A Y-shaped floor plan maximizes views of the Persian Gulf. Viewed from above or from the base, the form also evokes the onion domes of Islamic architecture. During the design process, engineers rotated the building 120 degrees from its original layout to reduce stress from prevailing winds. The tower, at its tallest point, sways a total of 3.35 metres. The exterior cladding of Burj Dubai will consist of reflective glazing, and aluminium and textured stainless steel spandrel panels with vertical tubular fins. The cladding system is designed to withstand Dubai’s extreme summer temperatures. Floors 45 through 108 will have 700 private apartments on 64 floors (which, according to the developer, sold out within eight hours of going on sale). An outdoor zero-entry swimming pool will be located on the 78th floor of the tower. Corporate offices and suites will fill most of the remaining floors, except for a 123rd floor lobby and 124th floor indoor/outdoor observation deck. The spire – itself over 200 m (700 ft) tall – will hold communications equipment.It will also feature the world’s fastest elevator, A total of 56 elevators will be installed that can each carry 42 people at a time.
3. The Pentominium: The Pentominium is a supertall skyscraper under construction at the Dubai Marina in in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. When completed, the current design will stand at 516 metres (1,693 ft), with 120 floors above ground. It has been designed by architects Aedas and funded by Trident Internatioanl Holdings. Pentominium is currently the second-tallest under construction all-residential building in the world, the 610-metre (2,000 ft) tall Chicago Spire being the first. Pentominium is being designed by Andrew Bromberg of award winning and world renowned architects and designers company Aedas. Interior design of Pentominium will be undertaken by Hirsch Bedner & Associates, exclusive designers of Ritz Carltons, Grand Hyatts & Four Seasons worldwide. Trident International Holdings has partnered to create unique alliances with premium brands from across the world for its new 516 metre-tall tower, a development they describe as the ‘defined height of luxury’.
This tower had a unique challenge, in that it had to respond to two different conditions on the site: the proximity of the neighbors and the extreme environment pressures of Dubai. Therefore, the building has two different sides that center around a shared core. One side is a simple extrusion that reaches the full height of the building. This side is primarily southern-oriented and utilizes a system of balconies and a vertical layer of glass to mitigate solar gain. As the building rises this layer of glass becomes wider and functions as a wind break to help protect the balcony from the higher-velocity winds as one gets to the extreme heights of the tower. The other side of the building is a staggered shape, alternating between apartments and voids of sky-gardens. This is achieved through the introduction of six five-storey-high pods that cling structurally to the core. This alternation allows for either communal or semi-private spaces and thus enables the tower to “breathe” within its dense context. The result is a very thin, lightweight 516-meter tower that lightly sits into its setting of extruded neighbors and powerfully maintains its presence in its context and climate of Dubai.
The top floors of this world’s only Pentominium will contain a Sky Lounge, Sky Pool, Business Centre and a private observation deck along with ladies & gentleman’s health clubs and a cigar lounge, squash courts, a banqueting hall and private theatre. Each individual residential unit will take up a complete floor of the tower providing over 6500 sq.ft. of living space. Each floor will have a private foyer of its own and smart biometric access control. Taking the element of luxury living spaces to another level are entire floors which are uniquely suspended in mid air, giving the impression of floating penthouses in the sky.
4. The Burj Al Alam: The Burj Al Alam (meaning “World Tower”) is a 108 storey, 501 m skyscraper, under construction in the Business Bay area of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is designed to resemble a crystal flower. It is to become one of the world’s tallest buildings. The tower is being built by the Fortune Group which also has a number of other projects in Dubai such as the Fortune Tower and the Fortune Bay. It will contain 74 floors of office space, a retail area at the base, and a high-end hotel and serviced apartments in the top 27 floors. The hotel section is to contain the highest hotel rooms in the world. The building will also feature a 6-storey crown that will contain a Turkish bath, sky garden, and other club facilities. Construction started on 12 November 2006 and is expected to complete by 2010.
The Burj Al Alam tower building features a crown that consists of a sky garden, club facilities and Spa. The designs include a full curtain wall system, with three external curtain wall ‘petals’. Burj Al Alam will offer offices and serviced apartments of uncommon beauty and style – as well as the most enticing array of amenities, recreation and pleasure. The tower is strategically designed to accentuate the view of Business Bay Creek on the South side and the Burj Dubai super-high rise tower on the North. An extensive podium design, with specialty design retail spaces featuring luxury designer brands, will serve as the first point of approach.
It harbours 104 Service Apartment Units along with 200 Hotel Suites, a check-in Sky Lobby, 6 F&B outlets, gym & pool and over 4300 Car Parking Spaces exclusively for the residential owners.In addition, it has 74 Storeies of office spaces, where the office floor plate varies from
3,243 m2 to 1,537 m2. It also caters 26 passenger and 4 goods lifts.
5. The Princess Tower: The Princess Tower is a residential skyscraper that is currently under construction in Dubai. This supertall will be finished in 2009 and it will rise to 414 meters (1,358 feet) and have 107 floors. When complete, Princess Tower will be the world’s tallest all-residential building, taking the title from the Q1 Tower in Gold Coast City, Australia.
The building features a huge indoor and outdoor swimming pool with sauna, steam-bath and jacuzzi as well as a fully equipped gym.The building also has a billiards hall, table tennis courts and electronic games hall for children. The tower has a private ball and special occasionshall as well as a children’s nursery equipped with beds, electric and educational games where the nursery can be monitored from individual apartments. There are also luxurious hotel suites for guests of the Princess Tower with luxurious entrance and five star lobby.
6. Marina 101: Marina 101 is a 412 m (1,352feet) tall supertall skyscraper with 101 floors under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The skyscraper will have 324 hotel rooms and 506 residential units. The building was designed by National Engineering Bureau. When construction is set to end in 2010, the tower will probably be the second tallest residential skyscraper in the world, only shorter than both the 417 m (1,360 feet) Princess Tower in same city.` and commercial district. This central location provides business and leisure visitors alike with a perfect base in Dubai.
Placed at the Dubai Marina, Marina 101 gives the people of Dubai a complete business hotel cumresidential building having state of art entertainment and relaxation facilities. The services of hotel and residential complex are planned for quick and separate access of the residents to the hotel sauna and gym.
Some pics of a part of Dubai Waterfront…
The images and some of the text shown in this post are taken from many sources. All images are for illustrative pruposes only and their copyrights are reserved with their respective owners.
Chicago really has a good
Chicago really has a good collection of “super towers” that boast the city skyline. My favorite has to be the Al Burj not just because of it’s incredible length but because it’s inspirational design. I’m looking forward to it’s construction as Chicagos new super tower! Sincerely- Mary Lever.