Burj Khalifa Facts: Height, Records, Design and History

The Burj Khalifa is 828 metres (2,717 feet) tall with 163 floors, and it has been the world's tallest building since it opened on 4 January 2010. It stands in Downtown Dubai, was developed by Emaar Properties and designed by the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM). Below are the key facts on its height, records, design and construction. Planning to go up? Our Burj Khalifa tickets page compares the observation deck options.

Burj Khalifa key facts at a glance

How tall is the Burj Khalifa?

The official height is 828 metres to the tip, measured by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) method that includes the spire. That is more than twice the height of the Empire State Building's roof and roughly 300 metres taller than any building that existed before it. The top section is a slender steel spire, assembled inside the building and jacked into place, which adds more than 200 metres.

The highest public point is The Lounge on Levels 152 to 154, at about 585 metres. At the Top SKY on Level 148 sits at about 555 metres, and the main At the Top deck on Levels 124 and 125 at about 452 to 456 metres.

World records held by the Burj Khalifa

When it opened in 2010, the tower took several world records at once. It still holds the headline ones as of September 2026:

• Tallest building in the world, held since 2010.
• Tallest freestanding structure, taller than any tower or mast built so far.
• Most storeys in a building.
• Highest occupied floor in the world.

Some records it set on opening, such as the highest outdoor observation deck and the longest lift travel distance, have since been challenged or claimed by newer towers, so treat any "world's highest" claim about individual features with care. The Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia is under construction and is planned to exceed 1,000 metres; until it is completed, the Burj Khalifa keeps the overall title.

Design: the desert flower and the buttressed core

The floor plan is a three-lobed "Y" shape, a form the designers linked to the Hymenocallis, a regional desert flower, and to patterns in Islamic architecture. Each lobe steps back in a spiral as the tower rises, so the building narrows towards the top.

The shape is also the engineering answer to the main problem at this height: wind. Bill Baker's "buttressed core" places a hexagonal concrete core at the centre, braced by the three wings. The setbacks change the building's width at each level, which disrupts the swirling wind vortices that would otherwise make a supertall tower sway. The same principle has since been adapted in other supertall towers.

Construction timeline

The tower stands on a reinforced-concrete raft supported by deep piles, needed because the ground here is sand and weak rock rather than bedrock. Concrete had to be pumped to record heights, and in the summer heat much of the pouring was done at night with ice added to the mix to control curing.

What is inside the Burj Khalifa

The tower is mixed-use. The Armani Hotel Dubai and Armani Residences occupy the lower floors, private apartments fill much of the middle, and offices sit above them. The public areas are the observation decks and restaurants such as Atmosphere on Level 122. Visitors reach the decks from The Dubai Mall, not from the base of the tower.

After dark the facade becomes a giant LED screen for light shows on national days and special occasions, and the tower forms the backdrop to the Dubai Fountain. Our Burj Khalifa at night guide covers the evening view, and families should read the Burj Khalifa with kids guide.

Visiting: where to go next

Ticket tiers, time slots and booking are covered on our Burj Khalifa tickets and At the Top guide. For the rest of the neighbourhood, see the Downtown Dubai area guide and Dubai Fountain show times.

Burj Khalifa facts: FAQs