Burj Al Arab

Tower of the Arabs

 The Burj Al Arab is a luxury hotel located in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

 It was the first hotel

characterized itself as a "7-
star" property, a
designation considered by
travel professionals to be
hyperbole. All major travel
guides and hotel rating
systems have a 5-star
maximum, which some
hotels attempt to out-do by
ascribing themselves "6-
star" status. Yet according
to the Burj Al Arab's official
site, the hotel is a "5-star
deluxe hotel”. It is the
world's tallest structure
with a membrane facade
and the world's tallest hotel
(not including buildings
with mixed use) and was
the first 5-star hotel to
surpass 1,000 ft (305 m) in
height.
 The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island 280 metres out
from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a
private curving bridge.
 Construction of Burj Al Arab began in 1994. It is an
iconic structure, designed to symbolize Dubai's urban
transformation and to mimic the sail of a boat.
 Several features of the hotel
required complex engineering
feats to achieve. The hotel
rests on an artificial island
constructed 280 meters
offshore. To secure a
foundation, the builders drove
230 40-meter long concrete
piles into the sand.
 Engineers created a surface
layer of large rocks, which is
circled with a concrete honey-
comb pattern, which serves to
protect the foundation from
erosion. It took three years to
reclaim the land from the sea,
but less than three years to
construct the building itself.
The building contains over
70,000 cubic meters of
concrete and 9,000 tons of
steel.
 The building design
features a steel
exoskeleton
wrapped around a
reinforced concrete
tower. Notably the
building is shaped
like the sail of a
dhow, with two
"wings" spread in a
V to form a vast
"mast".
 During the day, the white
fabric allows a soft, milky
light inside the hotel,
whereas a clear glass
front would produce
blinding amounts of glare
and a constantly
increasing temperature. At
night, both inside and
outside, the fabric is lit by
color-changing lights.
 Near the top of the building is a suspended helipad
supported by a cantilever. The helipad has featured
some of the hotel's notable publicity events.
 In February 2005, professional tennis players Roger Federer and
Andre Agassi played an unranked game on the helipad, which
was temporarily converted into a grass tennis court, at a height
of 211 meters.
 The helipad has no borders or
fences on the edges and if a
player hit a winner the tennis balls
would plunge down to the ground.
 The interior was designed by
Khuan Chew, Design
Principal of KCA International.
Other projects by Khuan
Chew include the Sultan of
Brunei's palace, Dubai
International Airport, Jumeirah
Beach Resort Development,
Madinat Resort and much
more.
 The Burj Al Arab features the
tallest atrium lobby in the
world, at 180 meters. The
atrium is formed between the
building's V-shaped span. The
atrium dominates the interior
of the hotel, and takes up over
one-third of interior space. It
can accommodate the Dubai
World Trade Center building,
which, at 38 stories, was the
tallest building in Dubai from
the late 1970s to the mid-
1990s.
 While the exterior of
the Burj Al Arab is
expressed in terms
of ultra-modern
sculptural design,
the interior guest
space is a
compilation of lavish
and luxurious
architectural styles
from both the east
and the west. The
hotel boasts 8,000
square meters of 22-
carat gold leaf and
24,000 square
meters of 30
different types of
marble.
 In the mezzanine
lobby, a fountain
creates a "three-
dimensional Islamic
star pattern”. Pointed
arches throughout,
found in one of the
hotel’s three
restaurants,
corridors between
guest rooms, and at
the top of the atrium
recall a classic
Arabian architectural
design form.
 Despite its size, the Burj Al Arab holds only 28 double-story floors which
accommodate 202 bedroom suites. The smallest suite occupies an area of
169 square meters, the largest covers 780 square meters.

 It is one of the most expensive hotels in the

world. The cost of staying in a suite begins at
$1,000 per night; the Royal Suite is the most
expensive, at $28,000 per night.
 Suites feature design details that juxtapose east and west. White
Tuscan columns and a spiral staircase covered in marble with a
wrought-iron gold leaf railing show influence from classicism and art
nouveau. Spa-like bathrooms are accented by mosaic tile patterns
on the floors and walls, with Arabian-influenced geometries, which
are also found elsewhere in the building.
 Restaurants

Sky
View

Al Iwan Sahn Eddar Junsui

Al Muntaha
 One of its restaurants, Al Muntaha (“The Ultimate"), is located 200 metres above the
Persian Gulf, offering a view of Dubai. It is supported by a full cantilever that extends
27 metres from each side of the mast, and is accessed by a panoramic elevator.
Al Mahara
 The Al Mahara (Arabic meaning "The Oyster") is accessed via
a simulated submarine voyage, features a large seawater
aquarium, holding roughly over one million litres of water. The
tank, made of acrylic glass in order to withstand the water
pressure, is about 18 centimetres thick.
 Reviews by architecture critics

 "This extraordinary investment in state-of-the-art construction

technology stretches the limits of the ambitious urban imagination in an
exercise that is largely due to the power of excessive wealth."