Highlights

Burj Khalifa prestigious project for Bison International

1 January 2011

Glory in times of economic trouble: the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, was finished with Bison Montagekit^®. No fewer than 50,000 cartridges provide a screwless interior finish. The 828 metre high giant was opened on January 4, 2010, the coronation day of sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai’s present ruler.

Despite seemingly stagnating new building activity and development, Bison International B.V., a leading European manufacturer of adhesives based in The Netherlands, has few reasons to complain. Exactly because of the crisis, consumers and professionals are now strongly focussing on refurbishing and restoring. Moreover, the Dubai order, coming from local partners in interior finishing, was a terrific windfall and not exactly an everyday occurrence.

“Tremendously prestigious”
According to Bison International B.V., the finishing of the tallest tower in the world is “a tremendously prestigious project”, also because it reaches an unprecedented level in a literal sense as well as in a figurative sense. “We are very proud that Bison Montagekit^® was chosen specifically thanks to its good performance in this climate. What many people do not know: Bison is the inventor of Montagekit^®.”

A 1.5 million metre bead of adhesive
In putting the finishing touch to the world’s ultimate skyscraper, dozens of kilometres of skirting boards, door jambs and wall panelling boards have been fixed permanently and screwlessly. Bison delivered 25,000 cartridges of Bison Montagekit^® on an initial order,  which was followed by a second order for the same number. Together, they are good for a bead of adhesive of no less than 1.5 million metres, which is longer than the bird’s eye distance from Amsterdam to Madrid (1,449 kms).

Worldwide expertise
In the past decades, Bison Montagekit^® has gained good references all over the world, including the Middle-East, where the company has been active for over 50 years. With its brands Bison Kit Contact Adhesive and Montagekit^® Construction Adhesive, Bison International B.V. is market leader in the Gulf region. Worldwide, the Bison brand is available in more than 60 countries.

Excellent performance
The Dutch adhesives and sealants perform very well even in the most extreme conditions. In Dubai, where the turning on and off of airconditioning systems in buildings results in large temperature fluctuations and a strongly varying air humidity, Bison Montagekit^® has proved not only to have excellent filling capacity, but also to dispose of the right elasticity. It does not dry out where other products do and thus maintains the required flexibility. With Burj Dubai, Bison adds a new name to the list of prestigious buildings and projects which were finished with Montagekit^®, among which the 21^st Century Tower, the Shangri La Hotel, the Fairmont Hotel, The Hills and Dubai Marina.

About Burj Khalifa
Burj literally means Tower. Construction began in 2004. The new tallest building in the world. The top of the spire is at 828 metres (160 floors). The tower was designed by the architectural firm of Skidmore Owings & Merril (USA). The tower will house hotels, a club, apartments, offices and an observation deck. Several interesting pieces of information:

• The building has the world’s fastest elevator system at a speed of 18 m/s or 64 km/h.
• The concrete used for Burj Dubai is equivalent to the weight of 1.000 elephants
• The tower’s glass and steel exterior would cover 17 soccer fields.
• For the interior finishing, more than 50,000 cartridges (over 17,500 kg) of Bison Montagekit of the – now also literally – highest quality are used.