Dubai is a city located in the United Arab Emirates. It is known for its highly modern lifestyle, shopping, and really tall sky-high buildings. Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world is also located in Dubai which is about 830 meters high. But soon, the position of Burj Khalifa is said to be taken by the Creek Tower which is a skyscraper that is under construction and is also located in Dubai. The tower is set to be completed by 2022 and is set to become the world’s tallest tower and manmade building in the entire world.
The Creek Tower is located on a site in the vicinity of Dubai Creek (hence the name Creek Tower). The Dubai Creek is a waterfront area situated near Ras Al Khor National Wildlife Sanctuary. The whole area is being developed into a brand new business hub which is to be termed as the Dubai Creek Harbor. Several other structures are being built in that area with the Creek Tower planned at the center of the new business district. The tower is located 8 kilometers east of Burj khalifa.
The Creek Tower height has not been made public as of now. Until the developers of the tower i.e. Emmar Properties Developer announce the opening of the tower, the creek tower height is meant to be kept a secret from the World. The reason for not disclosing this information is to prevent other building developers from competing with the project. However, the son of architect Santiago Calatrava Valls (Architect of The Creek Tower), after being asked by the media regarding the height of the structure, told them that it would be a little taller than the Burj Khalifa. After a few months, the chairman of Emaar Properties told the media that the tower would be 100 meters taller than the Burj.
Again, in 2017, a video was played in a mall that threw some hints about the Creek Tower’s height. According to the video, it was speculated that 8 Dubai Creek Towers stacked on top of each other would be around 11 kilometers. This gave the public an idea that the tower might be around 1300 meters. Then, in the same video, it was again hinted that 5 Dubai Creek towers stacked on top of each other will be equivalent to 8 Burj Khalifas. This put the height of the Creek Tower at 1345 meters. Hence, the tower’s height has been estimated to be between 928 to 1400 meters which would surpass the Burj Khalifa and would make the Creek Tower the tallest building in the world.
A controversy has been also going around the Creek Tower regarding whether it would be recognized as the tallest man-made building or not. According to The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), a structure is considered to be a building only if a minimum of 50% of its height is habitable. But for the Creek Tower, only 30% of the height of the tower will have habitable floors. However, not everyone follows or accepts the CTBUH’s criteria which makes the whole issue very controversial.  The Emma Properties developer will advertise the tower as the tallest building in the world.
The architect Santiago Calatrava Valls who is a Spanish-Swiss architect is the main man behind the design of the Creek Tower. The design inspiration for the tower was the natural form of a desert lily. The cable arrays anchoring the building on both sides create a resemblance to the ribbing desert lily leaves. The cables are spread out widely on the ground to achieve stability for the tower. If the cable arrays are removed, the tower depicts the form of an Islamic architectural structure called a minaret. Minarets can be seen built around various mosques and other such Islamic structures. The thin stem of the tower acts as its backbone and the long oval section close to the peak shows a resemblance to a lily’s bud. The diameter of the oval section is much larger than the stem and hence it gives the tower a grand appearance. The main objective of the tower is to be a site for observation decks or sky gardens. About 20 floors will be used as hotels, apartments, and other mixed-use services. The antenna located at the peak of the tower will be used for broadcasting.
There were a total of six proposals for the design of the Creek Tower which were submitted by huge worldwide architectural companies around the world. The designs were shown to Sheikh Mohammed who is the ruler of Dubai in late February 2016. It was he who selected Santiago’s design which wasn’t completely done at the time. On February 27th, 2016 the architect introduced the remaining design to the ruler.
The preliminary work which includes seismic research, wind checks, soil excavation, pile layout, etc. for the construction of the tower began around July 2016. Construction of the entire tower was supposed to be completed by 2020. Since the tower mostly contains slender core structures, the process of building is estimated to be much faster than other structures. But after the pandemic hit in 2020, the construction of the tower was put on hold, and if it resumes by 2021, then the estimated completion time is late 2022.
The main goal of the tower is to bring about more tourism and sightseeing into the city of Dubai. The Dubai Creek Tower is speculated to have ten observation decks inside the oval-shaped structure which is situated at the top of the tower. The decks will provide 360-degree panoramic views of the entire city of Dubai. The decks are to be decorated exceptionally with aesthetically pleasing gardens that are inspired by the ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The tower will also have indoor decks that are supposed to be like small revolving platforms that provide a resemblance to balconies at the margin of the deck, whereas half of these platforms will be outside the margin of the tower that will offer views that no other buildings in the world can provide. The tower is supposed to act as a magnificent landmark during the day and also at night. The tower is set to feature moving lights and dynamic illumination, which is said to look like magic even in darkness. A beacon of light is to emerge from the peak of the tower to evoke the image of a flower bud floating over the structure.
