By IANS
Dubai : Burj Dubai, a multi-purpose skyscraper being built here, has reached 512.1 m – crossing the height of Taipei 101 in Taiwan that stands at 508 m.
Taipei 101 has held the tallest-building-in-the-world title since it opened in 2004, according to a press release issued by Emaar Properties, the developers of the new global landmark.
The Dubai skyscraper has reached 141 storeys – more than any other building in the world. As many as 143 floors of the still under-construction tower have been sold out.
When construction is completed by December 2008, Burj Dubai will officially become the tallest structure in the world in all four of the criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).
The council measures height to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof, and the tip of the spire, pinnacle, antenna, mast or flagpole.
Burj Dubai became the tallest building in the world in just 1,276 days after excavation work started in January 2004. More than 5,000 consultants and skilled construction workers are employed on site.
"Four years ago Burj Dubai was conceived by Emaar Properties as a 90-storey structure," Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, stated.
"It was the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who inspired us to 'resist the usual' and build a global icon," he stated.
Emaar Properties has partnered with South Korean construction major Samsung Corp and New York-based project manager Turner Construction to realise the design by architects Adrian Smith and Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago.
In all, 35,000 people will populate this tower, which will comprise a hotel, private apartments and office space.
The centrepiece of the tower will be a haute couture Giorgio Armani Hotel in the first 37 floors. Floors 45 through 108 will have private apartments while the rest of the floors will have corporate offices and suites.
There will also be recreational facilities and entertainment venues including four luxurious pools and a cigar club, a library, exclusive residents' lounge, serviced residences and 15,000 sq ft of fitness facilities.
An observatory deck on the 124th floor or 442 metres above ground will be the world's highest publicly accessible observation deck.
The building will be at the centre of Downtown Burj Dubai, a $20 billion, 500-acre downtown development, being billed as the most prestigious square kilometre on earth.