Burj Khalifa design holds key to birth of future super-tall skyscrapers

According to a top structural engineer, who worked on designing the world's tallest tower, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tower's buttressed core design holds the key to build future super skyscrapers.

The structural engineer at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, William Baker, who also worked with Adrian Smith, in designing the Burj Khalifa, believes that the buttressed core design can serve as a base to build taller structures in future.

The core design is a kind of three-winged spear that permits stability, usable space, and limited loss of space for structural elements. According to Baker, it is easy to build a tower that is a kilometre or a mile tall, although some modification may be required on the buttressed core design, to go further higher than a mile. In fact, Baker revealed that he is working on some such designs now.

Adrian Smith, the architect behind the world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa, and also the designer of the Kingdom Tower, said that one of the main limitations of tall buildings are the elevator and transportation system.

Last month, the Chief Executive Officer of Broad Sustainable Building, a Chinese construction firm, Zhang Yue, said that he plans to build a two-kilometre tall building, a 636 storey tower.

He further revealed plans to build 838 meter tall tower, which is 10 metres taller than Burj Khalifa in Dubai within four months’ time from ground breaking, by using rapid-construction techniques that his company invented. The tower, named Sky City 220, is expected to have schools, hospital, 17 helipads and a capacity to house 30,000 residents.

Posted on 4/9/2012

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