Guangzhou International Finance Center vs Burj Khalifa

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Guangzhou International Finance Center or Guangzhou West Tower, is a 103-story, 438.6 m (1,439 Feet ) skyscraper at Zhujiang Avenue West in the Tianhe District of Guangzhou, Guangdong.

One half of the Guangzhou Twin Towers, it's the 23rd tallest building in the world, completed in 2010. As of March 2018, it's the world's tallest building with a roof-top helipad, at 439 m (1,439 feet) high. The world's second-tallest building with a roof-top helipad was also completed in 2010: Beijing's China World Trade Center Tower III, whose roof-top helipad is 330 m (1,083 feet) high. Both buildings are taller than the U.S. Bank Tower, the previous record-holder from 1989 to 2010, whose roof-top helipad is simply 310.3 m (1,018 feet) high. Construction of the building, designed by WilkinsonEyre, broke ground in December 2005, and has been completed in 2010.



The building is used as a conference centre, hotel and office building. Floors 1 through 66 are used as offices, flooring 67 and 68 are for mechanical equipment, flooring 69 to 98 possess a Four Seasons Hotel with the reception being on the 70th floor, and flooring 99 and 100 are used as an observation deck. The building was previously called Guangzhou West Tower and had a related project, the projected Guangzhou East Tower, which, at 475 m (1,558 ft), could have been even taller, though that project has been awarded to another design by Kohn Pedersen Fox, the 530 m (1,740 ft) Guangzhou CTF Finance Center.The building was the winner of the RIBA 2012 Lubetkin Prize.

Source: Wikipedia

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The Burj Khalifa (Arabic: ??? ?????, Arabic pronunciation: [b?rd?? xa?li?fa]; pronounced English: ), known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 feet, just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding antenna, but such as a 244 m spire) of 828 m (2,717 feet ), the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure and building in the world since its topping out in 2009 (preceded by Taipei 101).Construction of the Burj Khalifa began in 2004, with the exterior finished five decades later in 2009. The principal structure is reinforced concrete. The building was opened in 2010 as part of a new development called Downtown Dubai. It is designed to be the centrepiece of large-scale, mixed-use development. The decision to construct the building relies on the government's decision to diversify from an oil-based economy, and for Dubai to obtain international recognition. The building was originally named Burj Dubai but was renamed in honour of the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Abu Dhabi and the UAE government lent Dubai money to pay its debts. The building broke numerous height records, including its designation as the tallest building in the world. Burj Khalifa was designed by Adrian Smith, of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, whose firm designed the Willis Tower and One World Trade Center. Hyder Consulting was selected to be the supervising engineer with NORR Group Consultants International Limited selected to supervise the architecture of this project. The design is derived from the Islamic architecture of the region, such as in the Great Mosque of Samarra. The Y-shaped tripartite floor geometry is designed to optimize residential and hotel room. A buttressed central core and wings are utilised to support the elevation of the building. Although this design was derived from Tower Palace III, the Burj Khalifa's central center homes all vertical transport with the exception of egress stairs within each of the wings. The structure also offers a cladding system which is designed to withstand Dubai's hot summer temperatures. It comprises a total of 57 elevators and 8 escalators. At a particular stage in the architectural and engineering process, the original Emaar programmers experienced financial problems, and required more money and financial funding. Sheikh Khalifa, the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, granted monetary aid and financing, hence resulting in the changing of the name to'Burj Khalifa'. The concept of profitability derived from creating high density developments and malls around the landmark have proven effective. Its surrounding malls, hotels and condos in Downtown Dubai have generated the most revenue from the project as a whole, while the Burj Khalifa itself made little or no profit.Critical reception to Burj Khalifa has been generally positive, and the building has received many awards. However, there were numerous complaints regarding migrant workers from South Asia who were the key building labor force. These centered on low wages and the practice of confiscating passports until duties were complete. Several suicides were reported.

Source: Wikipedia