60 Fun Facts About Burj Khalifa

What is the Burj Khalifa's total height to the tip of its antenna?

That is just over half a mile; the roof height including the spire is 828 m.

How many floors does the Burj Khalifa have?

The previous record for most floors was the World Trade Center's 110.

Which building had held the world's-tallest title since 2004 when the Burj Khalifa surpassed it?

The tower passed Taipei 101's 509.2 m on 21 July 2007, still two and a half years from opening.

Which architecture firm designed the Burj Khalifa?

The Chicago firm had also designed the Sears Tower and One World Trade Center; Adrian Smith was chief architect and Bill Baker chief structural engineer.

Which South Korean company was the primary contractor?

It had also worked on the Petronas Towers and Taipei 101, and built the Burj with Belgium's BESIX and the local firm Arabtec.

On what date did construction of the Burj Khalifa begin?

The exterior was finished on 1 October 2009 and the tower opened on 4 January 2010.

On what date was the Burj Khalifa officially opened?

The ceremony featured 10,000 fireworks and 868 strobe lights built into the façade and spire.

What position did the man the tower was renamed after at its opening hold?

Abu Dhabi and the federal government had lent Dubai tens of billions of dollars during the financial crisis; the name change was a surprise at the ceremony.

Which Islamic monument is cited as an inspiration for the tower's design?

Its spiralling minaret is echoed in the tower's 27 setbacks, which also break up wind vortices.

What shape is the Burj Khalifa's footprint?

Three wings around a buttressed central core maximise residential and hotel space with views.

On which desert flower are the tower and its park said to be modelled?

Benches and signs in the 11-hectare park carry images of the flower, also called spider lily.

How many setbacks spiral up the tower, shrinking its cross-section as it rises?

They create outdoor terraces and are aligned to minimise vibration from wind eddies.

How far does the top of the Burj Khalifa sway in total?

The setback arrangement is what keeps the sway that modest at 828 metres.

How tall would the Burj Khalifa be without its spire?

A tall-buildings council study called the empty spire 'vanity height' and noted it 'could be a skyscraper on its own', the 11th tallest in Europe.

How much structural steel does the spire contain?

Its central pinnacle pipe alone weighs 350 tonnes and stands 200 m tall.

From which demolished building was some of the Burj Khalifa's structural steel salvaged?

Over 35,000 tonnes from the former East German parliament were shipped to Dubai after demolition finished in 2008.

How many elevators does the Burj Khalifa have?

Plus eight escalators; the double-deck lifts are the world's fastest at up to 10 m/s, and triple-deckers were considered.

How many stairs run from the ground floor to the 160th floor?

Pressurised refuge floors every 13 storeys give people somewhere to shelter on the long walk down in an emergency.

Roughly how much cooler is the air at the top of the tower than at its base?

The air-conditioning system draws its intake from the cooler, cleaner upper floors.

How many reflective glass panels make up the tower's cladding?

A typical panel is 1.4 m by 3.3 m and weighs about 360 kg.

How long does it take 36 workers to clean the entire exterior?

Three horizontal tracks carry 1,500 kg bucket machines; the very top is cleaned by rope-access crews.

How much water does the tower's system supply on an average day?

It runs through 100 km of pipes, with another 213 km for fire systems and 34 km of chilled water for air conditioning.

To what is the tower's peak cooling load of 46 megawatts compared?

Condensate from the system irrigates the park with 68 million litres of water a year.

Which fashion designer's hotel occupies 15 of the tower's lower 39 floors?

The 304-room hotel finally opened on 27 April 2010 after delays; it was the first of four planned Armani hotels.

How quickly did the tower's 900 private apartments reportedly sell out?

Ten months after opening 825 of them were nonetheless empty and rents had fallen 40 percent.

On which floors are the tower's two sky lobbies with swimming pools?

The 76th floor pool is an outdoor zero-entry pool.

On which floor is At.mosphere, the world's highest restaurant at its opening?

At 442 m it took the record from the CN Tower's 360 restaurant, 350 m up.

On which floor did the original At the Top observation deck open, the day after the tower did?

It sits at 452 m; a month later a stuck lift trapped tourists for 45 minutes and the deck closed for two months.

Which building briefly took the world's-highest-observation-deck title from the Burj Khalifa in 2016?

Its deck at 561 m beat the 148th-floor SKY level at 555 m; the Burj reclaimed the record with The Lounge at 585 m in 2019.

Which country's shores can be seen from the top on clear days at low tide?

The coast is about 153 km away across the Persian Gulf.

How much longer must residents above the 80th floor wait to break their Ramadan fast?

Above the 150th floor it is three minutes, because the sun is still visible after it has set at street level.

How high does the choreographed fountain beside the tower shoot its water?

The 270 m long fountain by WET Enterprises cost about $217 million and is lit by 6,600 lights.

How many piles support the Burj Khalifa's foundation?

Each is 1.5 m across and 43 m long; the foundation carries roughly 450,000 tonnes.

What did 2003 test drilling find beneath the site?

Thirty-three boreholes went to 140 m and found weak rock all the way, in what the study called a seismically active area.

How did engineers stop concrete setting too fast in 50 °C Gulf heat?

Cooler concrete cures more evenly; any major crack could have jeopardised the whole project.

To what height was concrete pumped vertically during construction, a world record?

Putzmeister built a new super-high-pressure pump for the job; the mark was reached at the 156th floor.

How many man-hours did construction take?

About 330,000 cubic metres of concrete and 55,000 tonnes of rebar went in.

Which Toronto landmark lost its 'tallest freestanding structure' record to the Burj in September 2007?

The Burj passed its 553.3 m at level 150; it overtook the KVLY-TV mast the following April.

Which Polish structure had been the tallest ever built before the tower passed it in September 2008?

The Konstantynów mast stood 646.38 m before it collapsed in 1991.

What was the estimated total cost of the Burj Khalifa project?

In 2009 office space was priced at $4,000 per square foot.

How did the two BASE jumpers who leapt from the tower in May 2008 get inside?

The building was about 650 m tall at the time; a legal record jump followed in January 2010 from a crane platform at 672 m.

From what height did Vince Reffet and Fred Fugen set the building BASE-jump record in April 2014?

They jumped from a purpose-built platform on the very top of the pinnacle, with official permission.

How long did Alain 'Spiderman' Robert take to climb the outside of the tower in March 2011?

UAE safety law obliged the usual free-soloist to use a rope and harness.

In which 2011 film does Tom Cruise's team infiltrate a meeting at the Burj Khalifa?

Directed by Brad Bird, it premiered at the Dubai International Film Festival; Cruise did most of his own stunts.

Which Adrian Smith-designed tower was designed to surpass the Burj Khalifa in height?

Smith left SOM in 2006 to found Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture in Chicago.

Which Guinness World Record has the tower's New Year's Eve show won twice, in 2015 and 2019?

The first show, in 2010, was watched live by more than 2 million people and lasted three minutes.

Who was chief architect of the Burj Khalifa at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill?

Bill Baker was chief structural engineer; the firm had also designed Chicago's Sears Tower.

Which Chicago building's curved three-wing layout gave the chief architect his prototype?

The design also recalls Frank Lloyd Wright's unbuilt mile-high skyscraper The Illinois.

Which Seoul residential building did Marshall Strabala say the Burj Khalifa's design was based on?

In its early planning the Burj was intended to be entirely residential.

Which engineer invented the bundled tube design the Burj Khalifa borrows from the Willis Tower?

The tubular system meant proportionally only half the steel of the Empire State Building was needed.

How many rooms does the Armani Hotel in the Burj Khalifa have?

It was the first of four Armani hotels and finally opened on 27 April 2010 after delays.

Ten months after opening, how many of the tower's 900 apartments were still empty?

Rents had plunged 40% in the recession; by October 2012 about 80% of apartments were occupied.

How many stroboscope lights integrated into the façade and spire lit up the January 2010 opening?

UK designers Speirs and Major choreographed them alongside 10,000 fireworks.

Which landscape architecture firm designed the 11-hectare park around the Burj Khalifa?

The park is watered with condensate from the tower's cooling system, about 68 million litres a year.

How fast do the Burj Khalifa's double-deck elevators travel, the fastest of their kind in the world?

Engineers had initially considered installing the world's first triple-deck elevators.

In which year was the Emaar New Year's Eve show at the tower first broadcast live on Zoom?

In 2021 the show honoured COVID-19 frontline workers, and 2022 added lasers on the Dubai Fountain.

How many workers were employed on the Burj Khalifa site in June 2008?

A BBC investigation and Human Rights Watch reported abysmal housing and low pay for the mainly South Asian workforce.

Which skyscraper-focused organisation named the Burj its best Middle East & Africa building of 2010?

Awards chair Gordon Gill suggested 'Building of the Century' would have been a more apt title.

Roughly how much did Dubai borrow for construction projects, prompting bailouts from Abu Dhabi?

The tower was renamed at its opening in gratitude to Abu Dhabi's ruler.

Which artist's work was chosen to adorn the residential lobby of the Burj Khalifa?

More than 1,000 pieces of art were planned for the interiors.