It boasts the highest swimming pool; the highest restaurant and –
bizarrely enough – the highest fountain to be found above ground
anywhere in the world.
And when the Burj Dubai skyscraper is
finally inaugurated, the closely guarded exact height will be revealed
officially, though it is known to be more than 800 metres, 60 per cent
bigger than its nearest rival in Taiwan.
At its busiest, the
site employed 12,000 workers, clocking up 22-million man hours to
complete the structure since construction began in 2004.
But
apart from the architecural and engineering challenges, the
billion-euro edifice had to survive a near catastrophic collapse in
Dubai’s property sector to make it to opening day – albeit with two
completion delays since the foundations were laid.
The developers have said that 90 per cent of the accommodation on the 200 storeys has already been sold.