The architecture firm behind The Tower, the recently launched centrepiece of Emaar’s Dubai Creek Harbour development, has described it as a gift to humanity.
Michael Calatrava, chief executive of Calatrava Mideast, an outpost of the Swiss-Spanish practice headed by his father Santiago Calatrava, who Emaar commissioned to design the high rise, also explained its role in creating a new focal point for the city, away from the dense Downtown Dubai area.
Emaar has not revealed the exact height of the tower, other to say it will be “slightly taller” than the 2,716 ft high Burj Khalifa, in Downtown, currently the tallest tower in the world.
Calatrava denied the developer was holding out on announcing an official height until Saudi Arabia’s planned 3,200 ft tall Jeddah Tower had progressed. Planned for completion in 2020, Jeddah Tower is set to surpass the Burj Khalifa to become the tallest skyscraper in the world.
Dubai Creek Harbour will provide more than 73m sq ft of residential accommodation, 118m sq ft of retail precincts, 9.2m sq ft of offices and 22 hotels.
Construction of The Tower, which will contain a hotel, leisure facilities and rotating balconies, will begin in July and is expected to be complete by 2020, ahead of the Dubai World Expo in 2020.
Speaking at the UK launch of Emaar’s Dubai development projects at a showcase in Harrods, London, Michael Calatrava said: “We want to create a tower that speaks the same language as Burj Khalifa, create a new centrepoint for the city, a gift to the people of Dubai.
“Dubai is attempting to become a doorway between civilisations, between Asia and north Africa, between Europe and Australia.”
“We are not competing with anyone. We are just trying to make a statement,” he added.
For a limited time on the ground floor of Harrods, Emaar is showcasing a window display, including a model of Dubai Opera, the emirate’s first multi-format theatre and the centerpiece of the developer’s Opera District.
The marketing suite, on the second floor of Harrods, also contains models of Dubai Hills Estate, another Emaar development.
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