As Dubai's Burj Khalifa turns 13, here is how it hit the heights

Always planned as the world's tallest building, the only question was by how much?

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  The Burj Khalifa construction site on April 29, 2005, in Dubai. Rabih Moghrabi / AFP

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  Construction under way on Downtown Dubai and Business Bay on January, 29, 2006. Nasser Younes / AFP

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  A camel handler exercises his animals along Nad Al Sheba track, in front of the Burj Khalifa Downtown Dubai construction site on April 2, 2007. Karim Sahib / AFP

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  Construction is under way on Burj Khalifa in 2007. Pawan Singh / The National

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  Construction under way on the very top of Burj Khalifa on December 17, 2008. Paulo Vecina / The National

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  Burj Khalifa and the surrounding Downtown Dubai area still under construction during a media tour of the area on January 26, 2009. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

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  Fireworks are set off during the inauguration of Burj Khalifa on January 4, 2010. Jeff Topping / The National

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  Burj Khalifa pictured on January 26, 2010, days after it opened to the public. Randi Sokoloff / The National

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  Tom Cruise is filmed running along the outside of Burj Khalifa for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol on November 5, 2010. Pawan Singh / The National

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  The Downtown Dubai skyline protrudes from early morning fog on September 6, 2011. Pawel Dwulit / The National

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  Burj Khalifa surrounded by fog on February 11, 2012. Jeff Topping / The National

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  Visitors take photos of Burj Khalifa during the Eid holidays in Dubai on August 10, 2013. Satish Kumar / The National

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  Burj Khalifa pictured from the metro on September 3, 2014. Pawan Singh / The National

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  Children look at Burj Khalifa, while the lights are switched off during Earth Hour on March 28, 2015. Jeff Topping / The National

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  Burj Khalifa pictured from City Walk on April 2, 2016. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

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  A full moon rises above the Burj Khalifa on August 7, 2017. Christopher Pike / The National

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  Burj Khalifa lights up in the colours of Saudi Flag to celebrate the kingdom's 88th National Day on September 21, 2018. Satish Kumar for The National

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  Between the 111th and 73rd floor, 11 window cleaners wash Burj Khalifa's facade on September 17, 2019. Chris Whiteoak / The National

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  Fireworks go off on December 31, 2020, to celebrate the New Year. Antonie Robertson / The National

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  Dubai rings in 2022 with fireworks at Burj Khalifa. Photo: Dubai Media Office

It was the spring of 2002 and Adrian Smith of the Chicago architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill had received an intriguing proposal.

Dubai real estate company Emaar Properties was preparing its biggest development yet. To be called Downtown Dubai, it would include hotels, apartments and the largest shopping mall in the world.

But the Emaar team, led by Mark Amirault, who was the chief development officer, and then executive director Robert Booth, wanted something more. A building that would send a message to the world about Dubai. They wanted a building, in fact, that would be the tallest in the world.

They had come to the right firm and the right man. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill had designed many of the world’s tallest buildings, including Chicago’s Willis Tower, the record holder for almost 20 years.

But it was the Jin Mao Tower, a 420.5-metre giant designed by Smith for the Shanghai skyline, which had caught their eye. The mixed-use tower, drawing from traditional Chinese architecture, had a striking glass exterior rising like a pagoda to a dramatic spire.

Shanghai's Jin Mao Tower, third from right, helped to inspire the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Photo: Zhou Junxiang

How could something similar be achieved in Dubai, they wondered?

Smith suggested holding an international competition first, and in 2003, when a decision was made, it was Skidmore, Owings and Merrill who had won.

The Burj Khalifa was born.

Smith, now 78 and who founded his own practice in 2006, outlined the concept for the Burj Khalifa in his book Adrian Smith: Towards a Sustainable Future.

“The form is geometric in plan, starting with three branches and three pods,” he wrote.

“The specific shape of these branches is modular in nature and in function and organic and biomorphic in form. The form can be found in flower petals, leaves and seeds, in animals such as birds and sea creatures, including crustaceans.”

“The over composition is a vertical object reduced and transformed by spiral reduction of branch length until it reaches its central shaft at which point the shaft peels away to reveal a triptych configuration that erodes in a spiral manner until a single spire remains. The resulting impression is organic and plant like.”

He concluded: “As the building rises from the ground I feel it wants to appear as if sculptured from the earth and crystallised in a vertical stalagmite of glass and steel.”

Adrian Smith, who designed the Burj Khalifa. Pawan Singh / The National

From directly above, the building would resemble a flower, while in profile it would echo the design of Islamic domes.

The height, and therefore the final design, though, had not been decided. Smith recalled that some members of the design team wanted to keep the height below 550 metres, but still comfortably eclipsing what was then the tallest building, Kuala Lumpur’s 451.9-metre Petronas Towers.

“They felt this height would still achieve the desired goal of the world’s highest building when completed.”

Smith felt the shorter designs didn’t work, and anyway did not meet the ambitions of Emaar’s founder, Mohamed Alabbar.

Then came the news that the renowned Chinese-American architect I M Pei was proposing a building significantly taller than 550 metres. It was enough to swing the balance. The Burj Khalifa would not only be the tallest building in the world. It would look down on the new world record holder, Taiwan’s Taipei 101, by an astonishing 320 metres.

A 1:500 scale model of the Burj was built and finally approved by Emaar even as test piles for the foundations were under way. Construction began in January 2004.

The Burj Khalifa under construction in 2007, when it became the world's tallest building despite not yet being completed. Photo: Stephanie Wawrzinek

Still incomplete, it became unofficially the world’s tallest building in July 2007. By September it was the world’s tallest free-standing structure, and by April 2008, still a year before completion, surpassed the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota as the tallest man-made structure.

Its great height was not the only remarkable feature of the Burj Khalifa. The building was designed to minimise swaying to no more than two metres — not to stop it from toppling over but to keep the inhabitants comfortable.

Condensation on the exterior produces 15 million gallons of water a year, the equivalent of 200 Olympic swimming pools, and is used to irrigate the landscaping.

The temperature at the top of the building is typically 15°C lower than the base. The sun also sets a minute later on the 124th floor viewing platform than it does on the ground floor.

Facts such as these have only increased the mystique of the Burj Khalifa, and more than justified its estimated $1.5 billion construction cost.

“It’s very difficult to make money on a super-tall building — that’s why there are so few of them around,” said Smith.

The Burj was an exceptional case, he wrote, where the building “will justify a high premium for its space”.

Officially opened on January 4, 2010, the Burj Khalifa remains a towering presence in the emirate and looks set to retain its crown as the world's tallest building for some time yet.