Consultant appointed for Dubai tall tower

07 June 2016

Structure will be taller than Burj Khalifa

The local office of Aurecon has been appointed as the engineering consultant for the Santiago Calatrava-designed tall tower that local developer Emaar Properties plans to build at its Creek Harbour development.

MEED reported in March that consultants had been approached for work on the tower.

Speaking at the tower’s launch in April, Emaar chairman Mohammed Alabbar said the structure would be a notch taller than the 828-metre tall Burj Khalifa.

Alabbar added that the building will cost about $1bn to construct and will be completed in time for the 2020 Expo.

Speaking at the same event, the tower’s designer, Spanish architect Calatrava, said the tower comprises three key components: the foundations, the slip-formed concrete core, and a steel frame structure sitting on top of the core connected to the ground by cables. To expedite the construction, the steel frame can be fabricated as work on the core proceeds.

The upper levels will have 18-20 useable floors that will include observation decks, function rooms and a hotel.

Work on the foundations package is expected to start in June or July, and contractors say the substructure will take about a year to complete.

Tendering for the superstructure will start once work on the foundations has begun. Sources close to the scheme say the core, the steel frame and the cables are likely to be let as one main construction package.

The appointment of Calatrava was approved on 6 February by Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

In January, Emaar awarded the local Al-Basti & Muktha (ABM) a deal to build its Dubai Creek Residences at Dubai Creek Habour.

The project involves the construction of six residential towers, which will form part of The Island District.

UK-based Faithful+Gould is the programme manager for the Dubai Creek Harbour development.

The Dubai Creek Harbour at the Lagoons is Emaar’s largest scheme in the emirate. The developer says it is three times larger than its Downtown District.

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