A huge replica of the Dubai Creek Tower – which is set to be taller than Burj Khalifa - has been unveiled at Dubai Mall by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
Located in the Grand Atrium in the mall, the replica is made of aluminum and 3D-printed cladding elements, weighs 3,000kg, and took more than 4,000 hours to be completed.
The tower takes design inspiration from the lily flower and evokes the image of a minaret. It has an elongated oval-shaped bud that will have some of the world’s highest observation decks offering 360 degree panoramic views of the city from its plot near Ras Al Khor National Wildlife Sanctuary.
Sheikh Mohammed views the structure at Dubai Mall with Emaar's Mohamed Alabbar. Wam
As well as the tower, which is set to top at 928 metres, the project will feature 679 million square metres of residential space, an additional 851,000 sq metres of commercial property, 22 hotels with 4,400 rooms and 11.16 million sq metres of retail.
______________
Read more:
Dubai's top 10 landmarks and future icons - in pictures
______________
Visitors at Dubai Mall will be able to learn a number of facts about the tower. It will have a record breaking 110km of cables – the most used in any single structure – weighing more than 18,000 tonnes. Horizontally aligned, the cables would stretch from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
Visitors crowd around the replica of Dubai Creek Tower as Sheikh Mohammed unveils it. Wam
The tower has already set a global record for its foundation, which was completed recently with more than 145 barrette piles, at a length of more than 60 metres. End-to-end, the length of the piles is more than 9km.
The tower bud, equivalent to the height of an 80-storey building, is being constructed using 12,000 tonnes of steel, while the "stem" will be built using 240,000 cubic metres of concrete, equivalent to 40,000 truckloads, or equivalent to the concrete needed for a sidewalk from London to Barcelona.
It will be the world's tallest if completed after Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, which is planned to top out at 1km and has previously been pencilled in for a 2019 completion. Dubai Creek Tower meanwhile is scheduled for completion around 2021.
Sheikh Mohammed was accompanied during the unveiling ceremony by Emaar Properties chairman Mohamed Alabbar, Dubai director of protocol and hospitality Khalifa Saeed Sulaiman, chairman of Dubai Holding Abdulla Ahmed Al Habbai, and a number of officials from Emaar and Dubai Holding.
______________
Read more:
The Tower at Dubai Creek to be 100m higher than Burj Khalifa
Phoenix Towers plan to pip Kingdom Tower and Burj Khalifa as world's tallest