On Monday, January 4, 2011, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum officially inaugurated Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. The opening coincided with the commemoration of the 4th anniversary of Sheikh Mohammed's accession as the Ruler of Dubai.
In a surprise move, Sheikh Mohammed renamed Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa - after the president of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan. Sheikh Mohammed also unveiled a commemorative plaque inside the tower bearing the new name, announcing the official inauguration of the most prestigious tower built on the most expensive square kilometer in the world.
In simple words, Sheikh Mohammed said: "This great project deserves to carry the name of a great man. Today I inaugurate Burj Khalifa."
Burj Khalifa, developed by Emaar, at $1.5 billion is the tallest man-made structure in history with a height towering more than 800 metre. The tower has 160 floors, the biggest number of floors a tower in the world may have.
Burj Kalifa is viewed as the finest spot on earth containing a number of first of its kind concepts in the world. It has succeeded to become the tallest independent structure in the world 1325 days after excavation work and dredging operations started in January 2004.
The overall construction process has used 330,000 m³ of concrete and 39,000 metric tonnes of steel `, with 103 thousand square metre of glass, 15500square metre of steel proof used in claddings and 22 miliion work hours.
The total built-up area in "Burj Khalifa” covers 5.67 million square feet. The tower includes 1.85 million square feet of space allocated for residential units, and 300 thousand square feet for luxury offices, in addition to the area covered by the "Armani Hotel Dubai" and "Armani hotel Residences."
"Burj Khalifa" features numerous luxurious recreational facilities, , including 4 swimming pools, as well as social clubs and library, social exclusive lounge for residents, hotel apartments and fitness facilities and a deluxe "Atmosphere" restaurant, the highest restaurant in the world and is located on the 122nd floor.
"Burj Khalifa" broke the records in all four categories recognised by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), the world body on the classification of high-rise buildings in the world, on the basis of peak height, pole and the highest inhabited floor.
