Nakheel Tower

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Nakheel Tower, also known as Al Burj, was a planned 1,000-meter-tall skyscraper in Dubai built by Nakheel Properties. It was intended to be the tallest building in the world, surpassing Burj Khalifa.

History and design
- The project began in the mid-2000s and was first proposed in 2003 as the centerpiece of Palm Jumeirah, initially called The Pinnacle. Over time, height estimates and plans varied greatly.
- The design evolved into Nakheel Harbour and Tower, a prominent structure that would have been part of a larger complex with about 20 smaller towers, a marina, and part of the Arabian Canal.
- Plans described a single extremely tall tower or a four-tower group with four main cores linked by four-level sky bridges. A crescent-shaped podium would surround the base, and the building would have about 156 elevators, allowing fast travel from ground to an observation area in about four minutes.

Locations and development
- Early plans placed the tower at the center of Palm Jumeirah, but the location was later moved to plots near Jumeirah Lake Towers and Dubai Marina due to concerns about airport proximity and other factors.
- Ground leveling and land work began on the Dubai Waterfront site before the project was halted.

Cancellation
- In January 2009, the project was put on hold because of financial problems related to the Great Recession. It was cancelled in December 2009 amid the Dubai World debt crisis.
- The tower never moved beyond planning and design, and no construction started.

Key players
- Architect: Woods Bagot
- Structural engineer: WSP Cantor Seinuk, with a team including LERA (New York) and VDM (Australia)
- Developer: Nakheel Properties

Status
- Nakheel Tower is not built and remains a cancelled project.