Text by Frans van de Laak    Picture Courtesy of Pauline Day

The whole Burj Khalifa Tower has three entrances, all of which are equipped with completely motorized Venetian Blinds

Though Adrian Smith is famous for designing skyscrapers, he has a special affinity for architectural contextualism. However, he doesn’t think of the two interests as contradictory, “High rises should stay in line with its city, but not challenge the original urban context. Many post-modern structures are lacking in the richness and details of old architecture.” He tries to express local culture and history with modern architectural concepts and make architecture itself a symbol of culture.

When designing Burj Khalifa Tower, Smith borrowed many local cultural elements from Saudi Arabia, including the onion-shaped roof typical of Middle-Eastern mosques, pointed arches and the desert flower pattern. This inverted Y-shaped Islamic style building rises in a spiral so as to lessen this super high rise’s pressure caused by wind load. The simple spiral structure not only disperses wind power, but also makes it possible for the dream of this unprecedented 828-meter-tall to come true.

As the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa Tower is built with more than 1,000 luxurious rooms, a 49-story office building and the first ever Armani Hotel. In this project, Hunter Douglas has provided six varieties of architectural and window shading products, so we can name it one of the most classic combinations of Hunter Douglas products.

The product can be tilted and lifted according to different indoor light and temperature conditions so as to ensure optimal lighting and temperature inside the building

The whole Burj Khalifa Tower has three entrances, all of which are equipped with completely motorized Venetian Blinds with max slat width 500 mm and an average drop of 21.5m that can be tilted and lifted according to different indoor light and temperature conditions so as to ensure optimal lighting and temperature inside the building. Viewing this from inside the ground floor, the blinds are suspended over the glass curtain of the building like pieces of beautiful banana tree leaves. In addition to sun shading performance, the Venetian Blinds installed also allow a clear view of downtown Dubai.

1/2. The MDF design ceiling tiles for all bathrooms and kitchens in the apartments of the Burj Khalifa are100% water resistant and fire proof 3. Lobby of Armani Hotel

Considering that they were used in wet areas, the designers opted for 23,500 m2 of MDF design ceiling tiles for all bathrooms and kitchens in the apartments of the Burj Khalifa. The MDF panels had to be 100% water resistant and fire proof. Therefore, special production equipment was developed and special spraying machines were designed to comply with the required standards.

The design of Armani Hotel involves participation of master fashion designer, Giorgio Armani. The interior decoration and furniture all follow the constant style of the Armani brand. HDME supplied and installed all motorized curtain tracks and Roman Shades for every individual room while 3form HDME supplied 3form products in the entrance of the Armani hotel, which not only expresses the exquisite and simple line of Armani, but also offers practical functions, thus guaranteeing the experience of each guest.