Emaar's Burj Dubai – the tallest building in the world – will be eclipsed by a new super skyscraper more than one kilometre tall, Nakheel confirmed on Monday.
The new community was launched at a VIP event attended by His Highness Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai.
In an official announcement at the dawn of Cityscape, the developer says it will construct a “tower more than a kilometer high'' that will be unrivalled the world over.
A spokesperson with Nakheel confirmed with XPRESS on Sunday that the new structure is the same project known unofficially since last year as the Al Burj tower. The official said that the new tower will not, however, be known under the Al Burj name.
It will be known simply as the Nakheel Tower.
“This is the first time we have discussed this project officially. Talk about the Nakheel Tower in the past has just been speculation,'' the spokesperson said.
In a statement from Nakheel, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Dubai World Chairman, said the new structure will surpass Burj Dubai to become the newest tallest building in the world.
The Burj Dubai may very well climb above 800 metres when it is completed, perhaps several hundred metres shorter than the Nakheel Tower.
“With Islamic influences governing its design, Nakheel Tower has been able to reach its height of more than a kilometer. The inspired approach has enabled us to achieve a number of amazing feats of engineering, for example, the tower will be the world's largest concrete structure,'' said Bin Sulayem.
To reach into the heavens, the new tower will be supported at its base with what Nakheel calls a “groundbreaking engineering feat'', a crescent shaped podium composed of four smaller towers.
Today's announcement confirms word earlier this year when Nakheel's head of the building division, Robert Lee, on Sunday XPRESS that the tower would be built, noting that: “The same amount of effort will be taken whether it's 888 [metres] or a kilometre,'' said Lee. “There will always be someone who wants to challenge the imagination.''
The new Nakheel Tower, meanwhile, will cover an area of more than 270 hectares.
It will be home to 55,000 people living in residential flats as well be a daily work destination for 45,000 people.
The project will include 250,000 square metres of hotels, 100,000 square metres of retail space and will be located at the intersection of Shaikh Zayed Road and the Arabian Canal.
A quick glance
- Nakheel is one of the largest development firms in the world involved in corporate, residential and retail projects.
- The Dubai-government owned developer is currently involved with $80 billion (Dh293 billion) worth of assets and development projects.
- Nakheel employs 3,000 people.
- The company has heavily invested in its three sets of manmade islands off Dubai's coastline including The Palm Deira, The Palm Jumeirah, and The Palm Jebel Ali.
- When its new island projects are completed, Nakheel will add as much as 1,500 km of new coastline to Dubai's existing natural 67 km of natural shoreline in the total emirate.
- The first project, Palm Jumeirah, doubled Dubai's shoreline and put the city on the international stage.
- The Palm Jebel Ali, the second island, is 50 per cent larger than Palm Jumeirah and will be home to 250,000 people.
- Palm Deira is the largest man-made island in the world and will be home to more than one million people when completed.
