Hi all.
Some thoughts on the CTBUH and the BD.
I will use copy and paste direct quotes from the CTBUH site.
Quote:
Height is measured from the level1 of the lowest, significant2 , open-air3, pedestrian4 entrance ...
Footnotes:
1 Level: finished floor level at threshold of the lowest entrance door
2 Significant: the entrance should be predominantly above existing or pre-existing grade and permit access to one or more primary uses in the building via elevators, as opposed to ground floor retail or other uses which solely relate/connect to the immediately adjacent external environment. Thus entrances via below-grade sunken plazas or similar are not generally recognized. Also note that access to car park and/or ancillary/support areas are not considered significant entrances.
3 Open-air: the entrance must be located directly off of an external space at that level that is open to air.
4 Pedestrian: refers to common building users or occupants and is intended to exclude service, ancillary, or similar areas.
|
1 - As was figured previously the measurement will begin from the floor of the level.
2 - All of these criteria are met by the concourse level. The entrance is obviously above the existing grade. The pre-existing grade before the hole was dug is below the entrance also. I think I read somewhere it was approx 1 meter above the DMD (Dubai Municipal Datum) and this seems pretty close looking at how deep the excavation was, perhaps Altin knows this ? The top of the raft is 3.75 m. below the DMD. The concourse level floor is 9.25 m. above the raft or 5.5 m. above the DMD so we're safe to assume this criteria is met.
3 and 4 are both met for sure.
Pretty much guaranteed the concourse level will be included in the height adding 6.0 meters to all 3 official measures as compared to the plans.
Quote:
The number of floors should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below nor should mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area. Note: CTBUH floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g. the level 4, 14, 24, etc in Hong Kong).
Highest occupied floor: this is intended to recognize conditioned space which is designed to be safely and legally occupied by residents, workers or other building users on a consistent basis. It does not include service or mechanical areas which experience occasional maintenance access, etc.
|
The highest occupied level and number of levels are not so clear going by this.
Whether the mezzanines will be included is a question mark. Level 154 will be included surely as it covers the entire area of the level below . Also it is named as a seperate level and only its use is shown as a mezzanine in the plans. Now 158M, 160M1, 160M2,and 160M3 are another matter on 2 fronts.
1 - These are mechanical mezzanines and do have a smaller floorprint than the level below. It will be up to the CTBUH to decide if the difference in size warrants including them.
2 - By looking at the wording there may be some room to include levels and/or mezzanines above level 154 in the official count. Level 154 is the highest level occupied by tennants but the wording includes occupied by workers on a consistant basis. This may allow levels up to 160M3 to be included in the official count and in the height to the highest occupied level measure.
The plans levels count of 162 already allows for the 4 skipped levels, includes the 6 mezz. levels (which it should IMO), and does not include the concourse.
The official count could be anywhere from 158 to 163.
The height to the highest occupied level could be anywhere from level 154 - 580.5 meters to level 160M3 - 630.1 meters (from the concourse and assuming they measure up to the floor of those levels which they probably do). I kinda doubt all of the mezzanines will be considered as occupied on a consistant basis but that remains to be seen.
Quote:
When is a tall building considered to be “completed”?
A completed building can be considered such—and added to the “tallest” lists—if it fulfils all of the following three criteria:
1) topped out structurally and architecturally,
2) fully-clad,
3) open for business, or at least partially occupied
|
Number 3 of these criteria allows the official height to be recorded right after the soft opening. Good news IMO - I was wondering if they would wait untill the whole of the works was completed.
Quote:
The developer Emaar is still confidential about the height of the building and we don't mind it being confidential. But if they open the Burj and don't release the height, then we will measure the height of the building. During construction it is fine, but after construction we want to know and our people want to know its final height.
|
I am kinda surprised by this. The developer could be incorrect somehow and overstate the height. There are any number of reasons for this. Something could have deviated from the plans by a half a meter, etc. I don't see this being the case as most companies are honest but it kinda takes away from the "official-ness" of it all. With all the secrecy around this project I'm sure the CTBUH will have to do their own measurement anyway.
My guess for the height to tip will be 824.6 meters. This makes an assumption on the beacon height and doesn't allow for any settling in case they don't actually measure. I hope the CTBUH does measure and I hope Emaar puts up a flagpole, lightning rod, or antenae to push this height up even further.