Villa Palladio

11.49 u. UPDATE 5 januari 2010, 16 u.  Het hoogste gebouw van de wereld, de Burj Dubai, is 4 januari geopend en omgedoopt tot de Burj Khalifa. Hij is 828 meter hoog en in alle opzichten een recordbrekend gebouw.  De Burj  is hoger dan  de Taipei 101, die een schamele 508  meter omhoog steekt.  Er is vijf jaar onafgebroken gewerkt aan de Burj, toren in het Arabisch. Een vierkante meter in het gebouw kost voor particulieren 37 duizend euro. Voor bedrijven 43 duizend. Het is onduidelijk wat de economische crisis voor de Burj Khalifa betekent. Buurland Abu Dhabi is Dubai te hulp geschoten met een lening van 10 miljard dollar om de eerste tekorten (schuldenlast 80 miljard) te verlichten. Als dank kreeg de Burj de naam van de heersers van Abu Dhabi. De Burj heeft vier zwembaden, waarvan de hoogste op de 78e etage. Het kost tien ton ijs per dag om het gebouw te koelen. Er hebben op de drukste dag 14 duizend man tegelijk aan de Burj gewerkt uit 45 landen. De dertig aardigste feiten over de Burj.

Twenty hard facts on the Burj Khalifa

1. The elevators will have the world’s longest travel distance from lowest to highest stop
2. Hot air on the outside will condense due to the large cooling needs of the building. The condensation will be collected and used to water the buildings flora and fauna. 20 Olympic sized swimming pools per year of water.
3. There are 1,210 fire extinguishers on the site.
4. At the peak cooling times, the tower will require approximately 10,000 tonnes of cooling per hour.
5. The tower’s observation deck will be located 442 metres above ground, the highest publicly accessible observation deck in the world.
6. Condensation on the building will be collected and drained down to a holding tank located in the basement from where it will be pumped into the site irrigation system for use on the tower’s landscaped gardens. This system will provide about 15 million gallons of supplemental water per year, equivalent to nearly 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
7. The amount of steel rebar used for the tower is 31,400 metric tons – laid end to end this would extend over a quarter of the way around the world.
8. Dubai has set a new world record for vertical concrete pumping for a building, by pumping to over 460 metres. The previous record was held by Taipei 101 for pumping concrete up to a height of 448 metres.
9. Burj Dubai will also break the world record for altitude transportation of concrete before construction is complete.
10. The total area of cladding used to cover the Burj Dubai will be equivalent to 17 football fields.
11. The concrete used for the Burj Dubai is equivalent to: a solid cube of concrete 61 metres on a side, a sidewalk 1,900 kilometres long, the weight of 100,000 elephants.
12. The tower’s peak electricity demand is estimated at 36MVA, equivalent to roughly 360,000 100-watt light bulbs.
13. There will be 200 metres of dancing fountains at the foot of the Burj Dubai.
14. The Burj Dubai will feature the world’s first Armani Hotel.
15. Burj Dubai derives its design inspiration from the desert flower, Hymenocalis, and incorporates patterning systems that are embodied in Islamic architecture.
16. 54 lifts are to be installed in the tower.
17. The Burj Dubai spire will be visible from as far away as 95 kms.
18. At 5,500 kg capacity, the firemen/service elevator will be the world’s tallest service elevator.
19. First mega-rise to have elevators with specially programmed, permit-controlled evacuation procedures. (I wonder how they work? Weren’t we supposed Not to use evaluators in case of an emergency)
20. Highest publicly accessible observation tower at 442 meters. ( Go up and watch miles and miles of desert as well as ocean I guess!)
21. The curtain wall of Burj Dubai will be equivalent to 17 football fields.
22. The total glass requirement is 142K sq/m
23. The car park has approx. 3,000 parking places in four levels and a total area of just under 89,000 m2.
24. The car park ventilation system must comply with the USstandards Ashrae and AMCA for air quality and fan requirements and must in case of fire be suitable for operating at 300°C for not less than 60 minutes.
25. The double deck cabin elevators are the fatest in the world and also the one to travel the longest from a lower to higher point. The speed of the cabin is 18 m/sec (40 mph).
26. It also has the worlds first programmed and controlled evacuation in the world.
27. It can withstand the worst storm to hit dubai in a 100 years
28. It has 15,000 sq ft of fitness facilities.
29. A cigar Club
30. Connected to the largest mall in the world.