Burj al Alam - Dubai

[BigMac]

Skyscraper News
July 12, 2006

Burj Al Alam Has Flowering Launch

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/628BurjAlAlamHasFloweringLaunch_pic1.jpg

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/628BurjAlAlamHasFloweringLaunch_pic2.jpg

What is allegedly the largest commercial building in the world, the Burj Al Alam has had an unprecedented take up for the space on offer inside scotching fears by some cynics that Dubai's building boom is seeing plenty of construction but that vast amounts of space remain unfilled.

The project developed by the Fortune Group, has seen take up rates reach 45% since space was offered to the market at the beginning of May.

The project will be 480 metres tall making it one of the tallest buildings in the world. Of the 108 floors it contains 74 will be office space, the rest will be occupied by a mixture of hotel accommodation and serviced apartments. The hotel will be the highest in the world and will take up 48,706 square metres of space whilst there will also be about 30,000 square metres of retail space. Most impressive is the whopping number of parking spaces - 4,355 in total.

The scheme has been designed by the architects at Nihon Sikkei to symbolise a blooming flower, something that the developers feel is a suitable metaphor for what is happening to Dubai and on a wide scale, in the United Arab Emirates. Each of the six filaments is supposed to represent a petal. The top of the tower opens outwards from the central stem of the structure as if flowering high in the sky. The inside of the crown of the building, the head of the flower so to speak, will contain an open air spa.

The project has already set one record, this April the Fortune Group got in the Guinness Book for the world's tallest ice sculpture. Once built it will either be the second or third tallest building in Dubai, construction of the real thing is due to start in November or December 2006.

© 2004 - 2005

[malec]

I have to say, I love this tower. This sort of thing such as making a tower look like a flower usually ends up producing a tacky, disneyesque piece of crap but not here, this tower has class! The tallest commercial structure statement is complete bollocks though, first of all it's mixed use since the top 30 floors aren't office. Also is taipei 101 all office?
I've heard this tower has sold 50% of its space and is due to start at the end of the year.


Anyway, check out the videos on the website:

http://www.burjalalam.com


Some better renders:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e357/sahmad1/f92a29e3.jpg

http://i2.tinypic.com/swyfzr.jpg


Some more:

http://i6.tinypic.com/14xc7bl.jpg


This tower'll have the coolest skydeck ever, full outdoor 360 views :)

http://i5.tinypic.com/14xc7tl.jpg


The helicopter? :confused:

http://i5.tinypic.com/14xc7tj.jpg


Some pics from the 3D model made by me :)

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2359/19ky3.jpg

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/3641/25op1.jpg

[malec]

BTW, the actual height is 484m

http://img420.imageshack.us/img420/5508/dancing24fz.jpg

[pianoman11686]

That last picture makes me feel like I'm looking through a woman's legs.

[Luca]

^ you perv! :p


Malec: very nice post. especially the 3D rendering

[TREPYE]

What a beautiful tower! Too bad New York developers are so miserable and greedy as they will never build something as remotely great as this.

[MidtownGuy]

Yeah, some shapes like that would totally renew our skyline.
Too bad New York architecture is stuck in the 20th century.

[cymurai]

Yeah, some shapes like that would totally renew our skyline.
Too bad New York architecture is stuck in the 20th century.
yeah, one new york planner commented about the skylines in dubai

"been there, done that."

:D