Burj Dubai skyscraper tallest building in W.Asia

Dubai, Mar 5: Dubai moved further in its claim to fame when the Burj Dubai skyscraper was accorded the status of becoming the tallest structure in West Asia and Europe.

Emaar, the developer of the 380 m high super-structure, said Burj Dubai is now the tallest building in West Asia and Europe and is on its way to bag the global title of the world's highest structures.

''Burj Dubai is not a mere vertical conquest or a race for fame, it is an icon for the collective aspiration of the people of Dubai who have dreamt the impossible and attained it,'' Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties, said.

Emaar is planning to have its structure built in the heart of the Downtown Burj Dubai project to become the tallest building in the world in all four categories recognised by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

The council ranks buildings on the basis of spire height, highest-occupied floor, roof height and pinnacle height.

The skyscraper, which has the highest number of floors, has already dwarfed its local competitor, the 355 m high Emirates Office Tower. While the planned final height of the completed structure has been kept secret, the developers need to add at least 149 metres to the building to meet the height of the current world's tallest Taipei 101 tower of Taiwan, which is 509 metres, excluding masts, with 101 storeys.

Media reports had earlier estimated that Burj Dubai could reach 808 m high when it was completed in 2009.

The completion of the most recent phase of Burj Dubai has increased its height to the ninth tallest building in the world, taking the position of the 374-metre-high Central Plaza in Hong Kong just below the Empire State Building in New York, which is 380 m tall.

UNI