Burj Al Arab

The Burj Al Arab (,"Tower of the Arabs", also known as "Arab Sail") is a luxury hotel located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At , it is the third tallest building in the world used exclusively as a hotel. The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure, designed to symbolize Dubai's urban transformation and to mimic the sail of a boat.

Site

The beachfront area where the Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Hotel are located was previously called Chicago BeachKrane, Jim City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism, page 103, St. Martin's Press (September 15, 2009). The hotel is located on an island of reclaimed land offshore of the beach of the former Chicago Beach Hotelhttp://www.dubaiasitusedtobe.com/pages/galleries/chicagohotel.shtm. The locale's name had its origins in the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company which at one time welded giant floating oil storage tankers on the siteKrane, Jim City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism, page 103, St. Martin's Press (September 15, 2009).

The old name persisted after the old Hotel was demolished in 1997 since Dubai Chicago Beach Hotel as the Public Project Name for the construction phase of the Burj Al Arab Hotel until Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the new namehttp://www.dubaiasitusedtobe.com/pages/places/chicagohotel.shtm. Some still refer to the hotel as the Burj Al Arab at Chicago Beachhttp://dubai-buildings.info/burj-al-arab/dubai-burj-al-arab-at-chicago-beach.html.

Construction

Construction of Burj Al Arab began in 1994. It was built to resemble the sail of a dhow, a type of Arabian vessel. 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 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, or Paris with the Eiffel Tower. It needed to be a building that would become synonymous with the name of the country."

The architect and engineering consultant for the project was Atkins, the United Kingdom's largest multidisciplinary consultancy. The hotel was built by South African construction contractor Murray & Roberts.

Features

thumb|left|The hotel's atrium Several features of the hotel required complex engineering feats to achieve. The hotel rests on an artificial island constructed offshore. To secure a foundation, the builders drove 230 forty-metre (130 ft) long concrete piles into the sand.

Engineers created a 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, but less than three years to construct the building itself. The building contains over of concrete and 9,000 tonnes of steel.

Inside the building, the atrium is tall.

Burj Al Arab is the world's second tallest hotel (not including buildings with mixed use). The structure of the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang North Korea, is taller than the Burj Al Arab, and the Rose Tower, also in Dubai, topped Burj Al Arab's height at , becoming the world's tallest hotel.The opening of the Rose Tower was originally scheduled to take place in April 2008, but has still not opened as of late May 2008.

Rooms and prices

thumb|right|One of the hotel suites The hotel is managed by the Jumeirah Group. Despite its size, the Burj Al Arab holds only 28 double-storey floors which accommodate 202 bedroom suites. The smallest suite occupies an area of , the largest covers . It is one of the most expensive hotels in the world. The cost of staying in a suite begins at US$2,000 per night; the Royal Suite is the most expensive, starting at US$28,000 per night.Damluji, Salma Samar, The Architecture of the U.A.E.. Reading, UK: 2006.

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, decorated with Hermès bathroom products, are accented by mosaic tile patterns on the floors and walls, with Arabian-influenced geometries, which are also found elsewhere in the building.

Restaurants

thumb|left|Al Muntaha

One of its restaurants, Al Muntaha (Arabic for "Highest" or "Ultimate"), is located above the Persian Gulf, offering a view of Dubai. It is supported by a full cantilever that extends from either side of the mast, and is accessed to a panoramic elevator. The main chef there, Edah Semaj Leachim, was awarded Chef of the Year 2006 and also owns the restaurant, in accordance with the Burj Al Arab hotel.

Another restaurant, the Al Mahara ("Oyster"), which is accessed via a simulated submarine voyage, features a large seawater aquarium, holding roughly of water. The tank, made of acrylic glass in order to withstand the water pressure, is about thick. The restaurant was also voted among the ten best restaurants of the world by Condé Nast Traveler.

Reviews by architecture critics

The Burj Al Arab has attracted criticism as well as praise, described as "a contradiction of sorts, considering how well-designed and impressive the construction ultimately proves to be."[The Architecture of the U.A.E..] The contradiction here seems to be related to the hotel’s extreme opulence. "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 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." 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". Sam Wollaston writing in The Guardian described the hotel as "...fabulous, hideous, and the very pinnacle of tackiness - like Vegas after a serious, no-expense-spared, sheik-over".Last night's TV | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited

See also

• Tourism in Dubai
• Spinnaker Tower
• List of 5-star hotels in Dubai
• List of tallest buildings in Dubai
• List of tallest hotels in the world
• List of skyscrapers
• List of tallest freestanding structures in the world
• Ocean Eyes
• Apeiron Island Hotel

Footnotes

References

• Rose, Steve. "Sand and Freedom", The Guardian, November 28, 2005, retrieved October 27, 2006.
• National Geographic Television. National Geographic: Megastructures, retrieved October 27, 2006.

External links

Official sites

• Burj Al Arab official website
• Atkins, the designers and engineers behind Burj Al Arab
• Tom Wright Burj al Arab architect's official website

Video and photographs

• Video tour inside Burj Al Arab
• Photographs and details at DubaiHotel.ws

Maps and satellite images

• Google Earth 3D model of Burj Al Arab
• Google Maps satellite view of Burj Al Arab

The helipad

• Tennis on the Burj's helipad
• Andre Agassi and Roger Federer play a friendly game on the roof

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Categories: Buildings | Buildings in United Arab Emirates | Buildings in Dubai, United Arab Emirates