Burj al Arab

The Burj Al Arab is a luxury hotel, managed by the Jumeira Group and built by Said Khalil. The designer of the building Tom Wright. With its 321 metres (1,053 ft), it is the tallest hotel in the world. Construction of Burj Al Arab began in 1994. According to the clients request the building was built to resemble the sail of a dhow, a type of Arabian vessel. Burj al Arab became an iconic or symbolic statement for Dubai. The hotel rests on an artificial island constructed 280 meters offshore. The surface of the island made of large rocks, which is circled with a concrete honey-comb pattern, which serves to protect the foundation from erosion. It took three years to reclaim the land from the sea, but less than three years to construct the building itself.