Dubai Is Building A New Skyscraper Taller Than The Burj Khalifa

The Burj Khalifa, which is currently the world’s tallest building, might lose its crown of being the tallest structure in Dubai to a new tower that is being planned in the city, Yahoo News reports. Emaar Properties, the construction company that built the Burj Khalifa, is set to announce a brand new, even taller tower in Dubai that will surpass the Burj Khalifa in height and grandeur.

According to Emaar, the new, unnamed tower will have rotating balconies and will try to imitate the look of the mythical hanging gardens of Babylon. While the final height of the tower has not been revealed, Company Chairman Mohamed Alabbar said the new observation tower would be “a notch” taller than the 2,717-foot (828-meter) Burj Khalifa. He says that the tower would be known as the Eiffel Tower of the 21st century. The construction of the tower is set to begin soon, and Emaar is hopeful of completing it before the Dubai World Expo scheduled in 2020.

The Burj Khalifa currently holds the record of housing the world’s highest observation deck. Known as “At The Top, Burj Khalifa Sky” — this observation deck is located on the 148th floor of the building — at a height of 555 meters. It has two other observation decks, as well, on the 124th and 125th floor.

However, questions remain whether the new tower would be a full-fledged building or a cable-supported spire that would have “garden” observation decks complete with vegetation and plants. It will also contain a boutique hotel, several restaurants, and glass balconies that would rotate and give people a 360-degree view of the city and the skyline.

In case it turns out to be a cable-stayed tower, it will not fulfill the requirement needed to be termed a “building” or a habitable structure. This is because the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat mandates that for a structure to be called a building, at least 50 percent of a structure’s height must contain usable floor area. That is unlikely to be the case with this tower. For the same reason, structures like the CN Tower in Toronto, Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, and the Tokyo Sky Tree are all called towers and not buildings. These towers have few observation decks, and typically only have a small number of floors. In such a scenario, the Burj Khalifa would retain its crown as the tallest building in Dubai. However, the new tower will still earn the title of being the tallest structure in Dubai.

The project has received full backing from the Dubai government, who is hopeful that the tower will entice a fresh wave of view-seeking homeowners. According to Dubai 24/7, the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the country, has approved a design submitted by Spanish-Swiss neo-futuristic architect Santiago Calatrava in February, 2016, for the tower.

When completed, this new tower will become the centerpiece of a new 6 square-kilometer (2.3 square-mile) development on the edge of the Dubai Creek. It is also located close to a protected wildlife sanctuary.

Meanwhile, this new tower might still fall short of surpassing the planned 1 kilometer tall (3,281 feet) Jeddah Tower being built in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Several other skyscrapers are still in the planning phases in Dubai. These include the proposed Burj 2020, which will be more than 700 meters tall — making it the world’s tallest commercial tower. Another structure called the Dubai One is set to become the world’s tallest residential tower. This building will house an observation deck at 655 meters, reports say.

[Photo by AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili]