New tallest building will be designed by the Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava Valls winner of International Design Competition
DUBAI (United Arab Emirates) – Developers in Dubai has unveiled plans to build a new tower which it vows will be taller than the Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest structure.
Emaar Properties, the government-backed company behind the scheme, have yet to release the exact height of the building but say it will be “a notch” taller than the 2,717ft Burj Khalifa.
Chairman of Dubai based Emaar properties Alabaar said the tower would be a “gift to the city before 2020” – when Dubai hosts the Expo trade fair for real estate and development. The complex, a tribute to Arab ambition and European engineering, will be designed by the Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava Valls.
Santiago Calatrava, who was announced as the winner of an international design competition for the tower in February, the building was inspired by the shape of lilies and minarets, and would be anchored to the ground by a series of cables. The slender structure would primarily function as a viewing tower, containing an observation deck as well as restaurants and boutique hotel. The architect compared it to the Eiffel Tower.
Towards the top of the structure, visitors will find a 360 degree viewing deck, known as The Pinnacle Room, while the VIP Observation Decks will ‘recreate the splendor of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon’, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Balconies of the tower that extend outwards will rotate around the tower, and the structural core and tension cables will be gently and dynamically illuminated. As a result, The Tower will be visible for miles around.
The new tower will not be a traditional skyscraper but more of a cable-supported spire containing “garden” observation decks graced with trees and other greenery.
In addition, Dubai Creek Harbour as a project will stretch around 6km – twice the size of Downtown Dubai and will be a city unto itself.
The development includes nine different districts, such as The Island District, Creekside 18, Harbour Views, The Canal District and The Sanctuary District. Situated adjacent to the Ras Al Khor Natural Wildlife Sanctuary, it will boast a world class yacht club, marina and harbour, 22 hotels, 6.79 million square metres of residential space and almost twice that in retail.
In November 2015 Saudi Arabia’s billionaire prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his holding company Kingdom Holding Co secured $2bn (£1.33bn) to complete Jeddah Tower which will reach more than 1km in height (almost 3,300 feet).
But even the Jeddah Tower would be dwarfed by the Sky Mile Tower set to be built in Tokyo Bay, doubling the height of the Burj Khalifa. The mini-city, which has a completion date of 2045, would reach a height of 5,577ft and house around 55,000 people.