Burj Khalifa height: Here's how tall the record-breaking Dubai skyscraper is

Jacob Livesay, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read
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The Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai boasts several world records. In addition to being the world’s tallest building, the massive structure also holds records for tallest elevator in a building, most floors in a building and highest restaurant from ground level, according to Guinness World Records.

The building’s records also include highest occupied floor and highest outdoor observation deck, according to Emaar Properties, the company that developed and owns the Burj Khalifa.

How tall is the Burj Khalifa?

The Burj Khalifa stands at a height of 2,716.5 feet (828 meters), according to Emaar Properties.

The Burj Khalifa towers over Dubai's skyline at sunset on February 9, 2021.
The Burj Khalifa towers over Dubai's skyline at sunset on February 9, 2021.

For a sense of scale, that’s more than twice the height of the Empire State Building and almost three times the height of the Eiffel Tower, Guinness World Records reports.

The Burj Khalifa was designed by architect Adrian Smith with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, according to Emaar. SOM was also involved with the development of Chicago’s Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, which was the tallest building in the world from 1974 to 1998, PBS reports.

Where is Dubai?: Information about the city and how to travel there

How many floors does the Burj Khalifa have?

The Burj Khalifa has a record-breaking 163 floors, according to Guinness World Records.

It takes 2,909 stairs to get to level 160, and ladders are used for the last three floors, as described in a Burj Khalifa fact sheet published by Emaar.

Floor 148, which houses the SKY observation deck, is the highest floor open to the public, according to Emaar. There are also public observation decks on floors 124 and 125.

Floor 148 houses the SKY observation deck, the highest floor open to the public. There are also public observation decks on floors 124 and 125.
Floor 148 houses the SKY observation deck, the highest floor open to the public. There are also public observation decks on floors 124 and 125.

So what’s on the 163rd floor of the Burj Khalifa? The top floors, inaccessible to the public, are used for mechanical operations, according to Dream Civil.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How tall is the Burj Khalifa? Height of the tallest building in the world.