The Burj al Arab Island

 Number of piles: 230

 Length of piles: 45m
 Diameter of piles 1.5m
 Depth of lowest basement under sea is 7m below sea level.
Heights
 Height of atrium: 182m
 Height of helipad from sea: 212M
 Height of top of accommodation from island: 190m
 Height of top of mast from island :321m
Dimensions
 Distance of shore to the outer point of island: 450m
 Size of island: 150m per side
 Sea depth: 7.5m
 Length of biggest truss: 85m
 Weight of biggest truss: 165t
 Cantilever of sky view restaurant: 27m & 1.7m deep
 Size of sky view restaurant: 1000 sq m
 Weight of helicopter that can land on the pad: 7.5 tonnes
 Maximum sway at top of accommodation: 300mm
 Total volume of concrete on the island: 33,000 sq m
 Total volume of concrete in the superstructure: 36,000 sq m
 Total tonnage of steel: 9200 tonnes
 Gross area of building: 120,000 sq m
 28 double height floors (7m floor to floor height)
 Height of atrium: 180.5m with volume of: 285,000m3
 Length of mast: 60m
 Fabric area: 8700 sq m x 2 Thickness: 1mm with 50cm air gap
FAQ questions & answers on the design of Burj Al Arab hotel by Tom Wright, Design Director

What was the brief for the hotel?

The client asked us to design a building that would become a symbol for Dubai. Sidney has it's Opera
House and New York has the Statue of Liberty so Dubai would also have a building that people would
associate with the place.

What makes a building symbolic?

We looked at the other buildings in the world that are symbols to see what they had in common. We found
that they were all totally unique in shape and they all have a simple easily recognisable form. We decided
that the test to determine if a building is symbolic is if you can draw it in 5 seconds and every one
recognises it.

Why did you make the hotel look like a giant sail?
Dubai is becoming a world resort location so the building had to say holiday, fun and sophistication all
things associated with yachting. This mixed with Dubai's nautical heritage it seemed an appropriate
shape.

Why is the hotel out to sea?

It helps its uniqueness. It looks like a sail / boat. If it was on shore it would block the sun on the beach in
the middle of the day.

Does the hotel stand on rock?

The building is built on sand, which is unusual as most tall building are founded on rock. The building is
supported on 250 1.5M diameter columns that go 45 meters under the sea. As there is only sand to hold
the building up the columns rely on friction.

Are there any unusual materials used in the building?

The screen that encloses the third side of the atrium is made of 1mm thick glass fibre fabric with a Teflon
coat to stop the dirt sticking. The screen is the largest of it's type and covers an area of one and a half
football pitch and is hung from the top of the building by over a kilometre of 52mm cable.

Other amazing facts...

The diagonal trusses on the side of the building are as long as a football pitch and weigh as much as 20
double-decker busses. They were built 15 KM from the site and brought by road to Dubai on huge 80
wheel lorries which had to be specially imported from South Africa. The highest truss took a day to lift into
place.

If one man was to build the building himself it would take about 8,000 years to finish