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Sunday, January 24, 2010

Palm Deira

Under Construction

The Palm Deira was announced for development in October 2004.The first announced design was 8 times larger than the Palm Jumeirah, and 5 times larger than the Palm Jebel Ali, and was intended to house one million people. Originally, the design called for a 14 km (8.7 mile) by 8.5 km (5.3 mile) island with 41 fronds. Due to a substantial change in depth in the Persian Gulf the farther out the island goes, the island was redesigned in May 2007. The project then became a 12.5 km (7.76 mile) by 7.5 km (4.66 mile) island with 18 larger fronds.It will be located alongside Deira.
By early October 2007, 20% of the island's reclamation was complete, with a total of 200 million cubic metres (7 billion cubic feet) of sand already used. Then in early April 2008, Nakheel announced that more than a quarter of the total area of the Palm Deira had been reclaimed.This amounted to 300 million cubic metres (10.6 billion cubic feet) of sand. Since the island is so large, it is being developed in several phases. The first one is the creation of Deira Island. This portion of the Palm will sit alongside the Deira Corniche between the entrance to Dubai Creek and Al Hamriya Port. Promotional materials state that Deira Island will act as "the gateway to The Palm Deira" and help to revitalize the aging area of Deira. By early April 2008, 80% of Deira Island Front's reclamation was complete.
A new redesign was quietly introduced in November 2008, further reducing the size of the project.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Palm Jumeirah





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The Palm Jumeirah is a man-made island created using land reclamation by Nakheel, a company owned by the Dubai government. It is one of three islands called The Palm Islands which extend into the Persian Gulf, increasing Dubai’s shoreline by a total of 520 km. The Palm Jumeirah is the smallest and the original of three Palm Islands (Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira) under development by Nakheel. It is located on the Jumeirah coastal area of the emirate of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Palm Jumeirah is in the shape of a palm tree. It consists of a trunk, a crown with 16 fronds, and a surrounding crescent island that forms an 11 kilometre long breakwater. The island is 5 kilometres by 5 kilometres and its total area is larger than 800 football pitches. The crown is connected to the mainland by a 300-metre bridge and the crescent is connected to the top of the palm by a subsea tunnel.Over the next few years, as the tourism phases develop, The Palm Jumeirah is touted as soon to be one of the world’s premier resorts. The Palm Island is the self-declared 'Eighth Wonder of the World'. The island will double the length of the Dubai coastline.
According to the developer's publicity material, the Jumeirah Palm island will feature themed boutique hotels, three types of villas (Signature Villas, Garden Homes and Canal Cove Town Homes), shoreline apartment buildings, beaches, marinas, restaurants, cafés and a variety of retail outlets. Over 30 beachfront hotels will be opened by the end of 2009,

Dubai Mall




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The Dubai Mall is the world's largest shopping mall based on total area and sixth largest by gross leasable area. Located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, it is part of the Burj Khalifa complex, the 20-billion-dollar project has 1,200 shops, Access to the mall is provided via Doha Street, rebuilt as a double-decker road in April 2009.
Twice delayed, Dubai Mall opened on November 4, 2008, with about 600 retailers, marking the world's largest-ever mall opening in retail history. However it is not the largest in gross leasable space, and is surpassed in that category by several malls including the South China Mall, which is the world's largest, Golden Resources Mall, SM City North Edsa, and SM Mall of Asia.
The Dubai Mall has recorded a visitor turn-out of more than 60,000 tickets sold for the Dubai Aquarium and Discovery Centre in the first five days, following its opening. The Dubai Mall has hosted over 3 million visitors over the month of April 2009, while the mall attracts more than 750,000 visitors every week.

Burj Khalifa


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Burj Khalifa (Arabic: برج خليفة‎ "Khalifa Tower"), formerly known as Burj Dubai, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 828 m (2,717 ft), Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010.The building is part of the 2 km2 (490-acre) flagship development called Downtown Burj Khalifa at the "First Interchange" along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai's main business district.
The tower's architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill of Chicago. Adrian Smith, who worked with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill until 2006, was the chief architect, and Bill Baker was the chief structural engineer for the project. The primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea, who also built the Taipei 101 and Petronas Twin Towers. Major subcontractors included Belgian group Besix and Arabtec from the UAE. Turner Construction Company was chosen as the construction project manager. Under UAE law, the Contractor and the Engineer of Record are jointly and severally liable for the performance of Burj Khalifa. Therefore, by adoption of SOM's design and by being appointed as Architect and Engineer of Record, Hyder Consulting was legally the Design Consultant for the tower.
The total cost for the Burj Khalifa project was about US$1.5 billion; and for the entire new "Downtown Dubai", US$20 billion. Mohamed Ali Alabbar, the Chairman of Emaar Properties, speaking at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat 8th World Congress, said in March 2009 that the price of office space at Burj Khalifa had reached US$4,000 per sq ft (over US$43,000 per m2) and that the Armani Residences, also in Burj Khalifa, were selling for US$3,500 per sq ft (over US$37,500 per m2). The completion of the tower coincided with a worldwide economic slump and overbuilding, causing it to be described as "the latest ... in [a] string of monuments to architectural vacancy."




Burj AL Arab



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Burj-AL-Arab , Dubai, UAE, Worlds number one 7 star hotel
The Burj Al Arab (Arabic: برج العرب‎,"Tower of the Arabs", also known as "Arab Sail") is a luxury hotel located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At 321 m (1,050 ft), it is the second tallest building in the world used exclusively as a hotel.[2] The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island 280 m (920 ft) out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure, designed to symbolize Dubai's urban transformation and to mimic the sail of a boat.
Construction of Burj Al Arab began in 1994. It was built to resemble the sail of a dhow, a type of Arabian vessel. Two "wings" spread in a V to form a vast "mast", while the space between them is enclosed in a massive atrium. The architect Tom Wright said "The client wanted a building that would become an iconic or symbolic statement for Dubai; this is very similar to Sydney with its Opera House, or Paris with the Eiffel Tower. It needed to be a building that would become synonymous with the name of the country.
T he architect and engineering consultant for the project was Atkins, the United Kingdom's largest multidisciplinary consultancy. The hotel was built by South African construction contractor Murray & Roberts.