It's official: Burj Dubai tallest
Staff -- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 8/1/2007
It was always known that the Burj Dubai skyscraper being built in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, would be the world's tallest, but developers have been keeping the final figure under wraps. The figures are finally in. The Burg Dubai has reached 1,680 ft., surpassing Taiwan's Taipei 101, which stands at 1,671 ft.
Taipei 101 has held the tallest-building-in-the-world title since it opened in 2004. The Dubai skyscraper has reached 141 stories, and according to a press release from the owners, as many as 143 floors of the still under-construction tower have been sold out.
When construction is completed by December 2008, Burj Dubai will officially become the tallest structure in the world in all four of the criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The council measures height to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof and the tip of the spire, pinnacle, antenna, mast or flagpole.
In all, 35,000 people will populate this tower, which will comprise a hotel, private apartments and office space.
