Artist’s impression of the new US$1 billion tower, which will surpass the world’s tallest building.
The property developer responsible for the world’s tallest building, the 2,716ft tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai, plans to build another skyscraper in the emirate that will surpass the current titleholder, reported The Telegraph recently.
According to Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties, the US$1 billion tower will be “a notch taller” than the Burj Khalifa. It will also be the main highlight of its Dubai Creek redevelopment project.
The unnamed skyscraper, which will have a slender structure and a needlepoint-like tip, was designed by architect Santiago Calatrava Valls, who is famous for his futuristic works like the City of Arts and Sciences complex in Valencia, Spain.
It will also feature a luxury hotel, 18 to 20 floors of shops, glass balconies that rotate on the exterior, and other tourist facilities, said the developer.
Construction work is set to commence in June this year and the tower is expected to be ready before the Dubai World Expo in 2020.
However, the upcoming tower and the Burj Khalifa will still be overshadowed by Saudi Arabia’s 3,280ft Jeddah Tower, a US$1.2 billion skyscraper that is also targeted for completion by 2020.
Meanwhile, two New York-based architectural firms recently proposed to construct the 5,577ft high Sky Mile Tower in Tokyo, Japan.
Surrounded by an archipelago of islands designed to protect the city from flooding, the skyscraper will feature shared public facilities and multi-level open-air sky decks at every 320 metres.
If plans for the eco-friendly complex are approved, it will be taller than the Jeddah Tower and could be ready by 2045.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
