BURJ KHALIFA

ANALYSIS
1
 “

BASIC
INFORMATION
2
• Location: 1 Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Blvd -
Dubai - United Arab Emirates

• Architect: Adrian Smith (SOM

ASSOCIATES)

• Floor Area: 309,473

m2 (3,331,100 sq ft)

• Height: 828 meters(2717 ft )

• Floors: 163 Floors(26 Levels)

• Project Completion: 4 January

2010
3
 1
7

2
1. BURJ KHALIFA ARRIVAL
COURT
2. ARMANI HOTEL ENTRY 3
11
3. RESIDENTIAL ENTRY
4. VIEWING DECK 7
5. LAKE FRONT PROMENADE
6. TOWER GARDEN
7. WATER FEATURE 7
8. CHILDREN PLAY AREA
9. RECREATIONAL AREA
10. SERVICE YARD 1
11. OFFICE ENTRY
4 1 SITE PLAN
 “

CONCEPT AND
FORM
5
• Inspiration taken from the
HYMENOCALLIS flower

1. Three wings with setbacks

2. Y-shaped structure

3. Central core

• plan maximizes views of the

Arabian Gulf.

• Evocative of the onion domes

prevalent in Islamic
architecture.

6
7
 “

ORIENTATION AND
TEMPERATURE CONTROL
8
• ORIENTATION:

1. In triangular shape to
deflect the wind

2. Reduces vortex effect

9
TEMPERATURE CONTROL:

1. Thermal ice-storage facility

2. Condensate collection
system

3. Cladding of reflective glazing

10
 “

ZONING
11
MAJOR ZONING:
(BY ELEVATION)

CORPORATE SUITES
PRIVATE RESIDENCES: 77-108
RESIDENCES : 44-72 LEVEL

ARMANI HOTEL: 38-39 LEVEL

RESIDENCES : 17-37 LEVEL
ARMANI HOTEL: 0-8 LEVEL
SERVICE ELEVATOR
MAJOR ZONING:
(BY PLAN)

5
5
1. OFFICE PAVILLION
2. LOBBY
3. HOTEL
RESTAURANT 7
4. BALL ROOM
5. PARKING 2 4
6. INDOOR POOL 1 3
3
7. LODING DOCK 9
8
8. PREFUNCTION
6
9. CENTRAL PLANT 10
10. EMERGENCY
GENERATOR
MAJOR ZONING:
8
(BY PLAN)
1. HOTEL PAVILLION
2. SPA 1
3. HOTEL
PREFUNCTION 5
4. HOTEL 9
RESTAURANT
3 6
5. BALLROOM DROP 4
OFF
6. OFFICE ANNEX 7
ENTRY 2
7. OFFICE TENANT
8. HOTEL
9. LOBBY BAR
MAJOR ZONING:
(BY PLAN)

1. STUDIO
2. GUEST ROOM
3. SUITE
4. LIVING ROOM
5. DINNING ROOM
6. BEDROOM
MAJOR ZONING:
(BY PLAN)

7. ONE BEDROOM
UNIT
8. TWO BEDROOM
UNIT
9. FOUR BEDROOM
UNIT
MAJOR ZONING:
(BY PLAN)

10. OFFICE
11. STAFF CAFE
12. EXECUTIVE SUITES
13. MEETING ROOM
14. RECEPTION
 “

MATERIAL
19
FACADE MATERIAL

• An aluminum and glass façade

• Stainless steel bull nose fins

• Is covered by LED screen

20
21
 “

NON-STRUCTURAL
ELEMENTS
22
CLADDING SYSTEM
OF CURTAIN WALLS
1. Aluminium vertical
mullions

2. Clear reflective
insulating vision glass

3. Stainless-steel vertical
fin

4. Horizontal spandrel
panel

5. Concrete slab

23
24
OUTDOOR SHADING
AND WIND CONTROL
SYSTEM
• Aluminum louver and
frame: stronger,
lightweight and
corrosion-resistant

• Remote control: 160-

degree range of motion
for the exact amount of
protection or ventilation
desired

25
26
 “

STRUCTURAL
ANALYSIS
27
 STRUCTURAL
CHALLENGES

• Site Conditions

• Tower Foundations

• Gravity Analysis

• Height of Tower

• Earthquake Resistance

• Wind Engineering

• Construction Materials, Methods and Technology

28
 STRUCTURAL
SYSTEM

• Y shaped floor plan provides higher

performance

• The shape and the upward setbacks help

the structure to reduce the wind

• Buttressed Core System. Each wing

buttresses the other through a
hexagonal central core.

• The central core has a higher resistance

towards the torsional resistance.

29
 STRUCTURAL
SYSTEM
• Corridor walls that extend from the
central core to the end of the wing
are thickened by hammer walls.

• These walls resist the wind shears

and moments

• There are perimeter columns

connected to the mechanical floors.

• The connection between the

perimeter columns and the
mechanical floors is provided by
means of outrigger walls. This help to
resists higher wind loads laterally.

30
 SITE
CONDITIONS
• High level of groundwater up to 2m
below surface.

• Extremely corrosive groundwater,

containing approximately three times
the sulfates and chlorides as sea
water.

• The ground below Burj Khalifa

consists of a 3 to 4 meter layer of
sand.

• Below this are weak sandstones and

li esto es whi h are t suita le to
support the structure

31
 SOLUTION

• Implementation of
specialized waterproofing
systems

• Increased concrete cover to

reinforcement

• Addition of corrosion
inhibitors to the concrete mix

• Applying a stringent crack

control raft design criteria

• Lower permeable concrete

cover to the rebar
32
 TOWER
FOUNDATIONS
• Pile-supported Raft foundation

• The solid reinforced concrete raft is 3.7

meters thick

• The Tower raft is supported by 194 bored

cast-in-place piles.

• The piles are 1.5 meter in diameter and

approximately 43 meters long, with a capacity
of 3,000 tonnes each

• Skin friction piles, where the weight of the

skyscraper is carried on the friction of the pile,
the side of the pile.

33
34
 GRAVITY
ANALYSIS
• Massive structure thus, high
loads

• The structural system can be

described as a "buttressed" core

• The result is a tower that is

extremely stiff laterally and
torsionally.

• SOM applied a rigorous geometry

to the tower that aligned all the
common central core, wall, and
column elements.
35
36
37
38
 EARTHQUAKE
RESISTANCE
• Dubai is not a seismic zone and there
is no chance of having an earthquake
over 5.5.

• A massive reinforced concrete

skeleton which can withstand
earthquakes of up to 6 on the Richter
scale.

• Outrigger walls connect the

perimeter columns to the interior
walling, thus, they are able to
contribute support for the lateral
resistance of the structure

• Exceptionally stiff in both lateral and

torsional directions.
 WIND
ENGINEERING
• Due to the height and slenderness, wind
becomes a dominant factors in the
structural design

• To determine the wind loading on the main

structure, wind tunnel tests were
undertaken

• The stepping and shaping of the tower has

the effe t of o fusi g the wi d.

• Wind vortices never get organized over the

height of the building because at each new
tier the wind encounters a different building
shape.

• Under lateral wind loading, the building

deflections are well below commonly used
criteria
 Building under the
effect of wind

41
42
 CONSTRUCTION
MATERIAL,
TECHNIQUES AND
METHOD

• High performance concrete is utilized for the

Tower, with high modulus concrete specified
for the columns and walls.

• Most of the tower is a reinforced concrete

structure, except for the top, which consists
of a structural steel spire with a diagonally
braced lateral system

• The construction sequence for the structure:

1. the central core and slabs were cast

2. the wing walls and slabs

3. the wing nose columns and slabs

 “

CONCLUSION
44
• A successful collaboration between
the requirements of structural
systems, wind engineering, and
architectural aesthetics and function

• The Tower represents a significant

achievement in terms of utilizing the
latest design, material, and
construction technology and
methods, in order to provide an
efficient, rational structure, to rise to
heights never before seen.
THE END
AR-006
AR-010
46
AR-045