Feroz’s World

Al Burj (The Tall Tower) project being planned by Nakheel will be 1,050 metres tall, comfortably exceeding the height of the rival Burj Dubai and making it the world’s tallest building.

Nakheel has kept the tower’s height a closely guarded secret as it waits for its more advanced rival, being developed by Emaar Properties, to reach its final height later this year. However, MEED has confirmed that design plans show the tower to be more than 1 kilometre tall, at 1,050 metres.

“At that height, the Tall Tower will definitely be taller than the Burj Dubai,” says a source working on the Burj Dubai. “Emaar has not announced the full height, but the contractors are working to plans for a 700-metre tower, and we expect its final height to be about 800 metres.”

The Burj Dubai became the world’s tallest building on 21 July, at 512 metres, and is due to be completed in 2008.

Designs for the Tall Tower show 228 floors, a four-level basement and one service sub-level – a total built-up area of 1.49 million square metres with 492,000 square metres of useable space. It will house offices, apartments and hotels. The top habitable floor will be at 850 metres, topped by a 200-metre central spire with a three-level function area and three service floors.

However, the location of the tower could change again. It was originally called Al-Burj and destined for Palm Jumeirah, before becoming part of the Dubai Waterfront scheme. Nakheel is still reviewing its options.

“The site has never been fixed and has always been under review in the context of the strategic plan for Dubai,” says a spokesperson for the developer.

According to industry sources, the tower has been forced to move to the Ibn Battuta mall area as it violated Department of Civil Aviation height restrictions because of its proximity to the new Dubai World Central airport at Jebel Ali. Nakheel denies this. “No height restrictions have been placed on Nakheel in the waterfront area by the Department of Civil Aviation,” says the spokesperson.

Tenders for the contract to build the tower are expected early in 2008. Meanwhile, several consultants and contractors are assisting Nakheel with the project. “No pre-construction contract has been awarded or considered at this stage,” says the spokesperson. “We are talking to large-scale contractors, including [Japan’s] Taisei Corporation, to assist with the buildability analysis of the early design of the superstructure.”