The Burj Al Arab (Arabic: برج العرب,Tower of the Arabs) is a luxury hotel located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At 321 m (1,050 ft), it is the second tallest building in the world used exclusively as a hotel. However, the structure of the unfinished Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea is 9 m (30 ft) taller than the Burj Al Arab, and the Rose Tower, also in Dubai, topped Burj Al Arab's height at 333 m (1,090 ft), becoming the world's tallest hotel.[3][4][5] The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island 280 m (920 ft) out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure, designed to symbolize Dubai's urban transformation and to mimic the sail of a boat.Construction of Burj Al Arab began in 1994. It was built to resemble the sail of a dhow, a type of Arabian vessel. Two "wings" spread in a V to form a vast "mast", while the space between them is enclosed in a massive atrium. The architect Tom Wright said "The client wanted a building that would become an iconic or symbolic statement for Dubai; this is very similar to Sydney with its Opera House, or Paris with the Eiffel Tower. It needed to be a building that would become synonymous with the name of the country."
The architect and engineering consultant for the project was Atkins, the United Kingdom's largest multidisciplinary consultancy. The hotel was built by South African construction contractor Murray & Roberts. The hotel cost US$650 million to build.
sources: wikipedia.com
