A Dubai skyscraper surpassed the CN Tower today as the tallest structure in the world. The Burj Dubai will eventually stand 800 metres tall when it is completed next year.
The CN Tower may look just the same today, but it’s no longer a world-beater.
The United Arab Emirates’ upstart Burj Dubai, still under construction, has reached 555 metres, two metres taller than Canada’s pride and joy. When it’s finished late next year, Burj Dubai will top 800 metres, with 165 storeys of apartments, shops, hotel rooms and office space.
“The accomplishment of being the world’s tallest free-standing structure is another defining moment for the multinational team of over 5,000 people who are using their collective intelligence to make this iconic structure a symbol of human achievement,” said Mohamed Ali Alabbar, head of Emaar Properties, which owns the new tower. “This architectural and construction master-piece is truly an inspirational human achievement that celebrates the can-do mindset of Dubai.”
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
CN Tower officials are playing it cool and, so far, the website still calls it “the world’s tallest building.” A short statement, sent out by email, said, “When the time comes and the building is complete, we will congratulate the Burj Dubai project on their unique achievement.”
Burj Dubai had already beaten Taipei 101, which at 508 metres has been holding the tallest-building title since it opened in 2004.
The Dubai project was launched in 2004 as part of a $20-billion, 200-hectare downtown development billed as the most prestigious square kilometre on earth.
Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago, the tower is being built by Samsung Corp. of South Korea.
But there is one thing about the CN Tower which may yet rise above Burj Dubai and leave us with something to brag about:
The Burj Dubai website boasts that its 124th-floor observatory, 442 metres up, will be “the highest publicly accessible observation deck in the world.”
Not quite. The CN Tower’s Sky Pod is 447 metres above ground.
with files from Canadian Press
Bill Taylor
Bill Taylor is a former award-winning Toronto Star feature writer who contributes to Toronto Star on a regular basis.
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