How tall is Burj Khalifa and how many floors does it have?
Burj Khalifa is 828 meters (2,717 feet) tall, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which ratified the height in 2010. It has 163 floors above ground by that count, while the official site says "more than 160". Sources count the top mechanical levels differently. Checked 8 October 2026.
Key facts
- Architectural height
- 828 m (2,717 ft). The official site says "over 828 m (2,716.5 ft)".
- Height to tip
- 829.8 m (CTBUH: 829.84 m, 2,722.6 ft)
- Highest occupied floor
- About 585 m (CTBUH 2010: 584.5 m; Skyscraper Center today: 585.4 m)
- Floors above ground
- 163 per CTBUH. Other counts: "more than 160" (official), 160 or 162 (SOM), 154 occupied plus 9 service (Wikipedia).
- Spire
- Roughly 242 to 244 m of the 828 m. No primary figure found.
- Opened
- 4 January 2010 (official inauguration; the tower was renamed from Burj Dubai)
- Developer
- Emaar Properties
- Designers
- Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (Adrian Smith, chief architect; Bill Baker, chief structural engineer). Hyder Consulting: architect and engineer of record.
- Main contractor
- Samsung C&T (South Korea) with Besix (Belgium) and Arabtec (UAE)
- Cost
- About US$1.5 billion (AED 5.5 billion), an Emaar chairman estimate from 2009
Why do sources give different floor counts for Burj Khalifa?
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH, the body that ratifies tall building records) counts 163 floors above ground and one below. Emaar's official site says "more than 160". Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM, the design firm) gives 160 in its project facts and 162 in its text.
The gap is the top of the tower. The highest levels are mechanical rooms and the base of the spire, not rooms people use. Wikipedia counts 154 occupied floors plus 9 maintenance floors. We use 163 as the CTBUH count and say so.
What is the difference between architectural height and tip height?
Architectural height counts the spire but not antennas. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat ratified 828 m in 2010. The tip, which includes the very top of the spire, is 829.8 m on the same body's figures.
The spire is roughly 242 to 244 m of the total, according to Wikipedia. We found no primary source, so treat that as approximate. The official site says the spire holds more than 4,000 tonnes of steel and was jacked up more than 200 m from inside the tower.
Who designed and built Burj Khalifa?
Emaar Properties developed the tower. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill designed it, with Adrian Smith as chief architect and Bill Baker as chief structural engineer. Hyder Consulting is listed as architect and engineer of record.
Samsung C&T led construction in a joint venture with Besix of Belgium and Arabtec of the UAE. A 2004 Gulf News report names only Samsung. Construction began in January 2004, on 6 January or 12 January depending on the Wikipedia passage, and the tower topped out on 17 January 2009.
The structure is a "buttressed core": a hexagonal concrete core with three wings in a Y shape. The foundation is a 3.7 m thick slab on bored piles that are 1.5 m wide and 43 m long.
How much did Burj Khalifa cost to build?
The most quoted figure is about US$1.5 billion (AED 5.5 billion). It is an estimate from the Emaar chairman in 2009, reported by USA Today and repeated on Wikipedia. The construction contract awarded to Samsung in December 2004 was US$875 million, according to MEED.
Do not confuse the cost of building the tower with the price of an apartment. For apartment prices see price per square foot in Burj Khalifa.
Which numbers on this page are least certain?
| Item | What we show | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Architectural height | 828 m | High |
| Floors above ground | 163 (CTBUH count) | High that this is the CTBUH count; medium that all are numbered levels |
| Spire length | 242 to 244 m | Low to medium |
| Construction start day | 6 or 12 January 2004 | Medium |
| Total cost | About US$1.5 billion | Medium (estimate) |
Common questions
How tall is Burj Khalifa in feet?
Burj Khalifa is 2,717 feet (828 m) tall by architectural height, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which ratified the height in 2010. The tip is 2,722.6 feet (829.84 m).
How many floors does Burj Khalifa have?
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat counts 163 floors above ground. Emaar's official site says "more than 160", and other sources give 160 or 162. The top levels are mechanical, so counts differ.
When did Burj Khalifa open?
Burj Khalifa was officially inaugurated on 4 January 2010. It was renamed from Burj Dubai at that time.
Sources
- KHL, "CTBUH ratifies height of Burj Khalifa", 6 April 2010 (Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat ratification)
- Skyscraper Center (Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat), Burj Khalifa building page, read on 8 October 2026
- Burj Khalifa official site, facts and figures, read on 8 October 2026
- Burj Khalifa official site, structures page, read on 8 October 2026
- Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Burj Khalifa project page, read on 8 October 2026
- Gulf News, "Samsung is main contractor to build Burj Dubai", 9 December 2004
- MEED, "Burj Khalifa and Downtown Dubai", read on 8 October 2026
- Wikipedia, "Burj Khalifa" (secondary source, used where no primary figure was found), read on 8 October 2026
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