Dubai Skyscrapers: A Study — How The Famous Skyline Has Changed

Dubai ranks fourth in the world in terms of the number of skyscrapers. In 2025, the city will have 265 completed buildings taller than 150m, including 18 towers above 300m. We decided to explore how Dubai's landscape has been changing and what awaits it in the coming years.

Dubai's futuristic landscape as we know and love it has been around for less than 50 years. Until the 1980s, most of the city was desert.

Dubai's first skyscraper was the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II during her first official visit to the UAE in 1979.

The tower was built on the then outskirts, the distance to Dubai Creek was about 4 km, and some doubted the success of the remote project. Optimism inspired only the neighborhood with the highway leading to Abu Dhabi — it could breathe life into DWTC.

And so it was: today Dubai extends all the way to Abu Dhabi, and the DWTC building is located in one of the busiest areas.

The heyday of the skyscraper era began in Dubai at the end of the 20^th century. In 1999, the famous sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel was built on an artificial island next to Jumeirah Beach.

At that time Burj Al Arab was the tallest building in the city. However, the building turned out to be outstanding not only because of its height. About 1,790 square meters of 24-carat gold leaf, 21,000 Swarovski crystals and more than 24,000 square meters of snow-white Italian Statuario marble were used to decorate the luxurious interiors.

Spending a night at the hotel is now available for prices ranging from $1,000 to $4,000.

Burj Al Arab did not hold the title of the tallest building in the city for long. Already in 2000, a complex of two towers was built near Sheikh Zayed highway, which surpassed the previous record holder.

The project consists of a 54-storey office building Emirates Office Tower (355 meters) and 56-storey hotel Jumeirah Emirates Tower (309 meters). The skyscrapers are connected by a boulevard with stores of world-famous brands and a garden with cafes and fountains.

Although the towers are of different heights and storeys, from the ground they can appear almost identical. This is an optical illusion created by the angle of the facades and other architectural techniques.

The next record-breaker among Dubai high-rises was the 360-meter Almas Tower, built in the Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT) complex.

The skyscraper was designed specifically for the jewelry industry, so the architects were inspired by diamond cutting. The diamond and pearl exchanges moved into the tower, and it had to provide increased security measures (including strict access restrictions for visitors).

Almas Tower held the title of the tallest building in Dubai for less than a year. The skyscraper was opened in January 2009, but in October the construction of the famous Burj Khalifa was completed, and the “diamond” tower ceded the palm of superiority to it.

The project of the famous Burj Khalifa was developed in the Chicago office of the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP together with the American architect Adrian Smith.

The base of the skyscraper at Downtown Dubai has the shape of three petals. The architects were inspired by the Hymenocallis flower. The main structure of the tower consists of three wings, which are arranged around a central hexagonal core.

The tower was built by Emaar Properties. The work took 6 years to complete:

The Burj Khalifa required 330,000 cubic meters of concrete, 39,000 tons of reinforced steel and 30,000 double-sided thermal panels to construct the cladding. The outer side of this material reflects ultraviolet rays, while the inner side reflects infrared rays. This solution halved the load on the cooling system.

The grand opening of Burj Khalifa took place on January 4, 2010. More than 15 years have passed since then, but no other building in the world has surpassed the height record of 828 meters.

Over the next few years, Dubai is set to welcome several new towers that aim to rank among the tallest in the world.

Global hotel group Corinthia is developing a branded 500-meter skyscraper near Sheikh Zayed Road, close to the Museum of the Future. The project will feature two towers connected by a dramatic cantilevered sky lobby over 200 meters above the ground.

The complex will also be home to the world’s highest swimming pool — offering views over the city and coastline from 500 meters up. The opening is scheduled for 2030.

Currently under construction on Sheikh Zayed Road in the Trade Centre 1 area, Burj Azizi tower is set to become the second-tallest building in the world. The tower will include residential units, a seven-star hotel, and commercial facilities such as malls, restaurants, and a spa.

The developers aim to break multiple world records with features at record-setting heights:

Burj Azizi is expected to be completed by 2030.

The Dubai Creek Tower project was launched in 2016. At that time, representatives of Emaar Properties said that the new tower was to surpass the Burj Khalifa. At first it was planned that the height would be 928 meters, later it was increased to 1,345 meters.

However, the plans could not be realized. In 2020, the pandemic began, and construction was suspended.

According to the latest statements of the developer, now the project is in redesign and after the update is unlikely to be able to claim the title of the tallest building in the world. The focus of the construction will be on elegance and functionality rather than height.

In the next few years, Dubai is already expecting new large-scale projects. The city is growing and developing, attracting more and more investors and tourists.

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