DUBAI: The day the Burj Khalifa officially opened, it stood as a symbol of prosperity at a time when the world was on its knees, crippled financially by the worst recession of our lifetime. 

Dubai had just rung in the new year, waving a relieved farewell to a turbulent 2009, with this vast, new, 828-meter-tall building towering over the city, its roots held solid in the foundations of Dubai Mall, itself one of the biggest structures of its kind. 

Four days later, the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, on the anniversary of his accession, officially opened the world’s tallest tower, originally named Burj Dubai and later renamed Burj Khalifa in honor of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whose support helped complete it amid economic challenges. Those of us lucky enough to cover the story on Jan. 4, 2010, were given a sneak peek at the observation deck and a chance to take in the breathtaking views it offers, mist and haze permitting. 

We met executives from Emaar, the developers behind the tower, who spoke proudly of their achievement as the media formed a scrum around them. There was no mention of the impending name change at that point; they would not even reveal the closely guarded secret of the building’s exact height. It was only later, during that evening’s official opening ceremony and spectacular firework display, that these things were revealed.

Sheikh Mohammed had ordered construction of the building years earlier, when the global economy was in a much healthier state. It was clear even before the recession that Dubai needed to diversify its economy, moving away from a reliance on oil revenue, and the service and tourism industries seemed an obvious way forward. 

The previous holder of the record for world’s tallest building was the Taipei 101, at 508 meters. It held the record for six years, from 2004 until 2010, but is now only the 11th-tallest. 

Sheikh Mohammed wanted an iconic symbol of Dubai that would be recognized around the world but he was not satisfied with just another skyscraper; simply building the world’s tallest was not good enough, this one had to smash all existing records. In short, he was raising the bar. 

“It started with a dream, and then a journey of seeing that dream every day getting built higher and higher,” Ahmad Al-Falasi, the executive director of Emaar, said of the project. 

The Burj Khalifa boasts the world’s highest observation deck, with views of the world’s largest choreographed fountain display. One side of the tower is fitted with the world’s biggest lighting display. Inside are the highest apartments, restaurants and nightclub. 

When the tower was completed, its opening in 2010 was overshadowed by a financial crisis that began in 2007 and had taken a toll throughout the world, and Dubai was no exception. An Arab News editorial published the day after the official opening acknowledged the architectural achievements of the project but also reminded readers of the hardships being experienced everywhere, not least in Dubai. 

“Burj Khalifa is a reminder of the vision which has driven the quite remarkable real estate development in the emirate (of Dubai),” it said. 

“So at a time of profound pessimism and sky-high debt around the world, the sky-high Burj Khalifa, as it is called now, is a mighty finger pointing upward toward better and altogether more prosperous times.”  

The creation of the world’s tallest tower naturally required great attention to detail, including details that ultimately save lives. For example, the building is actually a series of interwoven towers that end at different levels, meaning no single surface runs all the way from the ground to the top. The shape this creates prevents strong winds from causing vortexes that could cause the building to sway too much. 

The external glass was designed to reflect more than 70 percent of the sun’s heat; without it, temperatures inside would be deadly during the summer. A “faraday cage” style structure created for the exterior of the tower acts as a massive lightning conductor to prevent damage from electrical storms. And two vast chiller systems outside the tower pump cooled water into its air-conditioning systems. 

The structure features an escape network, including a lift that can travel 138 floors in less than a minute (the greatest distance traveled by any single lift in the world) within a shaft encased in fire-resistant concrete; effectively the Burj Khalifa’s “lifeboat” in case of emergency. There is also a series of safe refuges at intervals throughout the building, also encased in fire-resistant concrete and supplied with fresh air that can be delivered at high enough pressure to deflect smoke in the event of a fire. 

The design was so advanced and ambitious that the architects and engineers even had to rethink how to deal with the messy business of sewage. A straight drop down a pipe from the top would not work; waste created by the flush of a toilet at the top of the tower would have reached speeds of up to 160 kph by the time it arrived at the foot of the building. Therefore waste drops just a few floors at a time through a series of sound-proofed pipes and pumps, while super-pressured pumps send fresh water to a series of water tanks throughout the building. 

The Burj Khalifa was a first, in many respects, and will always mark the moment when architecture changed forever, though it seems likely to lose its world record a few years from now when Saudi Arabia’s 1,000-meter-tall Kingdom Tower is completed.

• Peter Harrison is the Dubai bureau chief for Arab News. He has covered the Middle East for more than a decade.