World record-breaking structure will form part of 270ha new town

Dubai developer Nakheel yesterday announced plans to build a tower that could stand 1km in height, beating the city state's own world record.

The tower forms part of a 140bn dirham (£21.7bn) scheme to build a 270ha new town, called "New Dubai", which will take a decade to build.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, president of Nakheel's holding company, Dubai World, said that the project would be "one of a kind".

The scheme, in the Jebel Ali area of Dubai, is designed by US architect Woods Bagot and the project team includes structural engineer WSP and building services engineer Norman Disney & Young.

Nakheel said that instead of a single core, the skyscraper will have four cores, a design choice that is “inspired by Islamic patterns”.

Chris O'Donnell, chief executive of Nakheel, claimed yesterday that the global credit crisis would not affect plans for the tower. He said funds for the scheme would come from a combination of “pre-sales of land in and around the tower, and then project funding”.

The announcement came a day before the start of the Cityscape 2008 event in Dubai, the Middle East equivalent of MIPIM. The event expects to attract 60,000 visitors from 150 countries and will include 1,500 exhibitors.

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