Who doesn’t know Burj Khalifa? It is the pride of Dubai which stands 828 meters tall. In fact, the tower is the world’s tallest building. With more than 160 stories, Burj Khalifa is a mixed-use tower comprising 1.85 million square feet of residential space and 300,000 square feet of office space.
It also features a lounge, health and wellness facilities, four pools, and two observation decks. Not only that, Burj Khalifa is the world’s tallest gallery which has become home to the commissioned works of over 85 artists worldwide.
Perhaps you’ve been to Burj Khalifa, or you want to go there someday. If so, you should check out some unique info about this building. Here, you will discover several fun facts about Burj Khalifa. Are you ready to get your jaw dropped?
Table of Contents
- 1. Burj Khalifa Holds Multiple World Records
- 2. Originally Named Burj Dubai
- 3. It Took 22 Million Man Hours to Build
- 4. The Form of Burj Khalifa Resembles a Flower
- 5. There Is No Mosque in Burj Khalifa
- 6. Burj Khalifa Takes Its Poop Out of Town
- 7. You Can Only Stay on the 148th Floor for About 30 Minutes
- 8. Burj Khalifa Equals a Quarter of the Way Around the World and the Weight of 100,000 Elephants
- 9. You Need 20 Seconds to Fall From the Top of Burj Khalifa to the Ground
- 10. The Fastest Time to Climb Burj Khalifa Is 6 Hours 13 Minutes 55 Seconds
- 11. Burj Khalifa Can Be Seen From Somewhere Outside Dubai
- 12. It Takes Three to Four Months to Clean the Entire Exterior Facade
- 13. There Is Quite a Difference in Terms of Burj Khalifa’s Temperature
- 14. Watching the Sun Set Twice Every Day in Burj Khalifa
- 15. Burj Khalifa in Mission Impossible and The Simpsons
1. Burj Khalifa Holds Multiple World Records
As the tallest building in the world, it is no longer surprising that Burj Khalifa holds prodigious world records. Here are the other superlatives that were given to the world’s tallest building:
- Tallest man-made structure in the world
- Tallest free-standing structure in the world
- The world’s largest number of stories
- The world’s highest occupied floor
- World record for the tallest outdoor observation deck
- World record for vertical concrete pumping
- The world’s tallest service elevator
- Tallest installation of an aluminum and glass facade
- The world’s highest swimming pool.
Did you count how many worlds records Burj Khalifa has received?
2. Originally Named Burj Dubai
Don’t be confused if someone calls it Burj Dubai because it is its original name. It lasted only before its official opening ceremony. Burj Dubai was renamed Burj Khalifa in a tribute to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan. He’s the head of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, who came to rescue Dubai’s debt-laden finances.
Dubai’s property market has gone from the world’s best performing to the worst over the five years of tower construction. Hence, Abu Dhabi provided about $25 billion for Dubai in 2009 to help the country pay its crushing debt load.
3. It Took 22 Million Man Hours to Build
Burj Khalifa has a total built-up area of 5.67 million square feet with 1.85 million square feet of residential space and over 300,000 square feet of prime office space. Thus it is labeled as a ‘Vertical City’ and ‘A Living Wonder.’ Imagine an entire small city that could fit into one building, such a fun fact about Burj Khalifa!
With such a vast area, at least 12,000 workers from more than 100 countries were on site every day at the peak of construction. The building construction started in January 2004. The exterior was completed in October 2009, so it took about 22 million man-hours to build.
4. The Form of Burj Khalifa Resembles a Flower
Did you know that the design of Burj Khalifa is inspired by Hymenocallis (widely known as Spider Lilies), a six-petalled desert flower? Adrian Smith, the architect, uses the lyrical and well-proportioned structure of the Hymenocallis. It is fun to know that, in fact, nature plays a role in creating Burj Khalifa!
In addition to that, he designed the Y-shaped modular structure with setbacks along each of its three wings to provide an inherently stable configuration for the construction and produce attractive floor plates for residential space.
5. There Is No Mosque in Burj Khalifa
You might be surprised that this 163-story building has no mosque, even though it was rumored to be the tallest mosque in the world when it was being built. Besides, the majority of the population in Dubai is Muslim.
However, Emaar Properties, the building’s real estate developer, has confirmed that there was never any plan to include a mosque in this project. For this case, Muslim residents can access Al Ghafoor Mosque, located nearby.
6. Burj Khalifa Takes Its Poop Out of Town
Despite how sophisticated Burj Khalifa is, there is still an archaic system in this building. Many tall buildings in Dubai are not connected to the municipal sewage system. Yes, Burj Khalifa is one of those buildings. When you poop in Burj Khalifa, someone will truck your waste out of the city to be put into a wastewater treatment plant!
If we calculate the number of people who inhabit the 163 floors in Burj Khalifa, there will be 7 tonnes of poop! If we include the other human liquid waste, the total will be up to 15 tonnes of sewage daily.
Somehow, this reminds us that architecture is more than just a mesmerizing design. Thus it should have considered the overall building systems. It is such a fun fact to know that despite its overwhelming splendor, Burj Khalifa still has its flaws.
7. You Can Only Stay on the 148th Floor for About 30 Minutes
If you plan to visit Burj Khalifa, one of your destinations must be the 148th floor or what is usually called At The Top Sky. But, do you know that you can only stay there for about 30 minutes?
It is not that you will be forced out after 30 minutes, the reason for this is because you have nothing to do aside from sightseeing the breathtaking views up there. In fact, this is a way to limit people from staying too long. After this, you can continue your journey to explore the other levels of Burj Khalifa and stay as long as you want.
8. Burj Khalifa Equals a Quarter of the Way Around the World and the Weight of 100,000 Elephants
We all know that Burj Khalifa broke many world records, some of which were the total concrete used (330,000 cubic meters) and the total reinforced steel used (39,000 m/t). If only we could lay the amount of reinforced steel used at the tower end to end, it would extend over a quarter of the way around the world.
Furthermore, the concrete used is equivalent to a sidewalk 1,900 kilometers in length and the weight of 100,000 elephants. Are you surprised by these fun facts about the construction of Burj Khalifa?
9. You Need 20 Seconds to Fall From the Top of Burj Khalifa to the Ground
Some of you may be wondering ‘what if you fell off the world’s tallest building?’ The answer is, you’ll die, for sure. There is no way you could survive after falling from an 828 meters high building.
But, how long does it take for you to land if you fell from it? It would take you 20 seconds to fall from the top of the building to the ground at 240 km/h. You’ll turn into a pancake as you hit the ground.
10. The Fastest Time to Climb Burj Khalifa Is 6 Hours 13 Minutes 55 Seconds
Burj Khalifa was once climbed by Alain Robert from France. He started climbing the building at 6.03 p.m. on Monday 28th and finished at 12.17 a.m. on Tuesday 29 March 2011.
He spent 6 hours 13 minutes 55 seconds to reach the top of Burj Khalifa from the ground. There are no special aids. He only used his bare hands and rubber shoes. Still, a pulling mechanism is required to finish the climb due to extreme weather conditions. Dare to break Alain’s record?
11. Burj Khalifa Can Be Seen From Somewhere Outside Dubai
At over 828 meters and more than 160 stories, the tip of Burj Khalifa can be seen from 95 km away. Though it depends on the time of day, season, and weather, you are seeing.
Mathematically speaking, the exact maximum possible distance we can see this building on earth is 105.5 km. If there is a clear vision and no obstacle between two points, you can see it from that far. Isn’t it cool?
12. It Takes Three to Four Months to Clean the Entire Exterior Facade
We have mentioned before that Burj Khalifa holds the world record for the highest aluminum and glass facade installation. It requires 103,000 square meters of glass! The cleaners will wash the glass windows vertically from the top to the ground, and it takes around four months to clean the whole exterior.
13. There Is Quite a Difference in Terms of Burj Khalifa’s Temperature
Are you feeling hot while staying on the ground floor of Burj Khalifa? We would recommend you go to the upper floor because the ambient temperature at the tip of Burj Khalifa is six degrees cooler than the temperature at ground level. Actually, this is a common fact for skyscrapers.
This could be due to the significant difference in the indoor air velocity at the lower and upper levels. Consequently, the construction would encounter several problems, mainly to keep the building in line with the initial plan.
14. Watching the Sun Set Twice Every Day in Burj Khalifa
If you ask, where can I watch the sunsets twice in one day? We can confidently answer in Burj Khalifa. You could watch the first sunset from the base floor, then you would run towards the elevator to reach the 124th floor, and ta-da!
The second sunset is just right in front of your eyes. This phenomenon occurs because the earth is round. So if you are a Muslim and staying on the tallest floor of Burj Khalifa, remember that you need to wait about 3 minutes longer to break the fast during Ramadan, okay?
15. Burj Khalifa in Mission Impossible and The Simpsons
Because of its popularity, Burj Khalifa made an appearance in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, the fourth installment of the Mission Impossible series, with a hair-raising stunt sequence by Tom Cruise. The stunt scene was later parodied in the popular animated TV series The Simpsons. Have you ever watched it?
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