1. Site

2. Design and construction

3. Features
    Rooms and suites  Restaurants  Rating 

4. Reception
    Reviews by architecture critics 

5. Notable events

6. In popular culture

7. See also

8. References

9. Further reading

10. External links

The Burj Al Arab ({{lang-ar|برج العرب}}, Tower of the Arabs) is a luxury hotel located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.^[7] Of the tallest hotels in the world, it is the fifth tallest, although 39% of its total height is made up of non-occupiable space.^[8][9][10] Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island {{convert|280|m|ft|abbr=on}} from Jumeirah Beach and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. The shape of the structure is designed to resemble the sail of a ship. It has a helipad near the roof at a height of {{convert|210|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} above ground.

Site

The beachfront area where Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Hotel are located was previously called Miami Beach.^[11] The hotel is located on an island of reclaimed land 280 meters offshore of the beach of the former Chicago Beach Hotel.^[12] The locale's name had its origins in the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company which at one time welded giant floating oil storage tanks, known locally as Kazzans on the site.^[11]

Design and construction

The Burj Al Arab was designed by multidisciplinary consultancy Atkins led by architect Tom Wright, who has since become co-founder of WKK Architects. The design and construction were managed by Canadian engineer Rick Gregory also of WS Atkins. It is very similar to the Vasco da Gama Tower located in Lisbon, Portugal. Construction of the island began in 1994 and involved up to 2,000 construction workers during peak construction. It was built to resemble the billowing spinnaker sail of a J-class yacht.^[13] 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^[14] 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, London with Big Ben, or Paris with the Eiffel Tower. It needed to be a building that would become synonymous with the name of the city."^[15]{{failed verification|date=September 2015}}

The building opened in December 1999.^[19]

The hotel’s helipad, one of the buildings most visible contributions was designed by Irish architect Rebecca Gernon who worked as a part of the Atkins team and later went onto founding her own architecture and interior design company (Serendipity By Design), headquartered in Dubai with offices in Manila and Dublin. ^[20]

Features

Several features of the hotel required complex engineering feats to achieve. The hotel rests on an artificial island constructed {{convert|280|m|ft|abbr=on}} offshore. To secure a foundation, the builders drove 230 forty-meter-long (130 ft) concrete piles into the sand.^[21]

Engineers created a ground/surface layer of large rocks, which is circled with a concrete honeycomb pattern, which serves to protect the foundation from erosion. It took three years to reclaim the land from the sea, while it took fewer than three years to construct the building itself. The building contains over {{convert|70000|m3|yd3|abbr=on}} of concrete and 9,000 tons of steel.^[21]

Inside the building, the atrium is {{convert|180|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall.^[22]

Given the height of the building, the Burj Al Arab is the world's fifth tallest hotel after Gevora Hotel, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, Four Seasons Place Kuala Lumpur and Rose and Rayhaan by Rotana. But where buildings with mixed use were stripped off the list, the Burj Al Arab would be the world's third tallest hotel. The structure of the Rose Rayhaan, also in Dubai, is 12 m (40 ft) taller than the Burj Al Arab.{{citation needed|date=September 2011}}

Rooms and suites

The hotel is managed by the Jumeirah Group. 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 {{convert|169|m2|sqft|abbr=on}}, the largest covers {{convert|780|m2|sqft|abbr=on}}.^[23]

Suites feature design details that juxtapose east and west. White columns show great influence.{{clarify|date=September 2011}} Bathrooms are accented by mosaic tile patterns.{{citation needed|date=September 2011}}

The Royal Suite, billed at {{US$|24000|link=yes}} per night, is listed at number 12 on World's 15 most expensive hotel suites compiled by CNN Go in 2012.^[24]

The Burj Al Arab is very popular with the Chinese market, which made up 25 percent of all bookings at the hotel in 2011 and 2012.^[25]

Restaurants

Al Muntaha ("The Ultimate"), is located {{convert|200|m|ft|abbr=on}} above the Persian Gulf, offering a view of Dubai. It is supported by a full cantilever that extends {{convert|27|m|ft|abbr=on}} from either side of the mast, and is accessed by a panoramic elevator.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

Al Mahara ("Oyster"), which is accessed via a simulated submarine voyage, features a large seawater aquarium, holding roughly {{convert| 990,000|L|gal|abbr=on}} of water. The wall of the tank, made of acrylic glass in order to withstand the water pressure, is about {{convert|18|cm|in|abbr=on}} thick. {{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

Rating

The Burj Al Arab is a five-star hotel, the highest official ranking. While the hotel is sometimes erroneously described as "the world's only seven-star hotel", the hotel management claims never to have done that themselves. In the words of a Jumeirah Group spokesperson: "There's not a lot we can do to stop it. We're not encouraging the use of the term. We've never used it in our advertising."^[26]

Reception

Reviews by architecture critics

Burj Al Arab has attracted criticism as well

"a contradiction of sorts, considering how well-designed and impressive the construction ultimately proves to be."^[23] The contradiction here seems to be related to the hotel’s decor. "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." Another critic includes negative critiques for the city of Dubai as well: "both the hotel and the city, after all, are monuments to the triumph of money over practicality. Both elevate style over substance."^[23] Yet another: "Emulating the quality of palatial interiors, in an expression of wealth for the mainstream, a theater of opulence is created in Burj Al Arab … The result is a baroque effect".^[23]

Notable events

Several events have taken place on the helipad 210 m (689 ft) above ground to attract media attention. These include:

• 2004: Tiger Woods teeing off^[27]
• 2005: Andre Agassi and Roger Federer playing tennis^[28]
• 2006: Ronan Keating shot the Music Video for his single "Iris" at the Helipad of Burj Al Arab.
• 2007: The Today Show broadcast from the Helipad a segment of Where in the World is Matt Lauer?^[29]
• 2011: Golfer Rory McIlroy performing a bunker shot.^[30]
• 2013: Heli-lift of Aston Martin Vanquish.^[31]
• 2013: David Coulthard performing donuts in a Formula 1 racecar.^[32]
• 2017: Nick Jacobsen kiteboards down to the sea.^[33][34]

In popular culture

The last chapter of the espionage novel Performance Anomalies^[35][36] takes place at the top of the Burj Al Arab,[https://books.google.com/books?id=R4xrWxfC_DUC&pg=PT327&dq=performance+anomalies+%22burj+al+arab+hotel&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwinnMiZ5fDTAhXNdSYKHQczA7gQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=performance%20anomalies%20%22burj%20al%20arab%20hotel&f=false]^[37] where the spy protagonist Cono 7Q discovers that through deadly betrayal his spy nemesis Katerina has maneuvered herself into the top echelon of the government of Kazakhstan. The Hotel can also be seen in Syriana, Impossible – Ghost Protocol and also some Bollywood movies.{{which|date=November 2017}}

Richard Hammond included the building in his television series, Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections.

The Burj Al Arab serves as the cover image for the 2009 album Ocean Eyes by Owl City.

See also

• W Barcelona (Hotel Vela) – skyscraper of similar appearance in Barcelona, Spain (sail)
• Elite Plaza – a similar-shaped skyscraper in Yerevan, Armenia
• JW Marriott Panama (Panama City) – similar structure
• Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth – similar structure in Portsmouth, UK
• List of tallest buildings in the United Arab Emirates
• List of buildings in Dubai
• List of tallest buildings in Dubai

References

Further reading

• Rose, Steve. "Sand and Freedom", The Guardian, November 28, 2005, retrieved October 27, 2006.
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZlYGqwzwgQ National Geographic: Megastructures]

External links

• [https://www.jumeirah.com/en/hotels-resorts/dubai/burj-al-arab/ Burj Al Arab] — Official website

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