Burj Khalifa vs Kingdom Centre

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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

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Kingdom Centre (Arabic: ???? ????????) is a 99-story, 302.3 m (992 ft) skyscraper in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. When completed in 2002, it overtook the 267-meter Faisaliyah Tower as the tallest tower in Saudi Arabia. It has since been surpassed and has become the fifth-tallest skyscraper in the nation, whose tallest two buildings are the Abraj Al Bait Towers and the Capital Market Authority Tower. It is the world's third-tallest building with a hole following the Shanghai World Financial Center and the 85 Sky Tower in Taiwan. The mixed-use tower was created by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and designed by the group of Ellerbe Becket and Omrania, who were selected through an international design competition. It is situated on a 100,000--square-metre website and houses the 57,000-square-meter Al-Mamlaka shopping mall, offices, the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh, and luxury apartments. There is a 65m skybridge atop the skyscraper.The upper third of the tower features an inverted parabolic arch topped by a public sky bridge. The sky bridge is a 300-ton steel construction, taking the kind of an enclosed corridor with windows on either side. After paying the entrance fees, visitors take two elevators to reach that level.

Source: Wikipedia