Milad Tower (Persian: برج میلاد), also known as Borj-e Milad or Tehran/Teheran Tower, is a 435 m-high (1,427 ft) multi-purpose Iranian concrete tower built in 2007 in between the Shahrak-e Gharb and Gisha districts of Tehran. As mentioned, it stands at 435 m (1,427 ft) from base to the tip of the antenna. The head consists of a large pod with 12 floors, the roof of which is at 315 m (1,033 ft). Below this is a staircase and elevators to reach the area.In terms of height records and ranks, Milad Tower is the sixth tallest tower in the world after the Canton Tower in Guangzhou, CN Tower in Toronto, Ostankino Tower in Moscow, the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, and the Tokyo Skytree. It is also the current 17th tallest freestanding structure in the world.Milad Tower is a part of The Tehran International Trade and Convention Centre. The project includes the Milad telecommunication tower offering restaurants at the top with panoramic views of Tehran, a five-star hotel, a convention centre, a world trade centre, and an IT park. The complex seeks to respond to the needs of business in the globalised world of the 21st century by offering facilities combining trade, information, communication, convention and accommodation all in one place.
History
The Milad Tower was first proposed as part of the “Shahestan Pahlavi” project, in Tehran’s Abbas Abad district. The project was designed by the American urban planner Jaquelin Robertson. The site was to encompass five million square meters of land, a third of which was to be open space. It would have accommodated 50,000 residents, as well as government ministries, commercial offices, and a number of cultural centers, including museums, facilities for the performing arts, and libraries, including the Pahlavi National Library. The project would have cost $5 billion ($21 billion adjusted for inflation). For a while the firm employed Lisa Halaby, the future Queen Noor of Jordan. With the advent of the Iranian revolution, the project was cancelled. The Milad Tower was the only part of Shahestan Pahlavi to be built.
Resumption of construction
Milad Tower’s construction commenced in 2000. Upon completion of its 7-year-long construction in 2007, the Milad Tower was considered the 4th tallest free-standing telecommunication tower in the world. A year later, in 2008, the tower was opened, albeit numerous conflicts on the history of the tower still prevail, such as some sources proving that commencement of the tower’s construction was a year earlier instead of 2000 and that the tower was completed a year later instead of 2007.[3][4][5][6] The tower was officially opened on 8 October 2008 by Tehran mayor, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and members of City Council of Tehran. More than 250 local and foreign journalists covering the event.
Milad Tower Complex – Structure and features.Milad Tower, with its height of 435 m (1,427 ft), is the tallest in Iran, the sixth tallest telecommunication tower in the world. Milad Tower consists of five main parts: foundation, transition (lobby) structure, shaft, head structure and antenna mast. The lobby structure consists of six floors. The first three floors consist of 63 trade units, 11 food courts, a cafeteria and a commercial products exhibition, which is supposed to be 260 m2 (2,800 sq ft).The first and second floors underground consist of official and installing sections and data center. The ground floor is devoted to the entrance and visitors reception. The shaft is a concrete structure which is 315 m-high (1,033 ft) from the ground floor. In three different sides of it 6 elevators are used to transfer the visitors to the head of the tower at the speed of 7 m/s (0.0070 km/s) and there is an emergency staircase exists at the fourth side. The head of the tower is a steel structure weighing about 25,000 tonnes and consisting of 12 floors. In the top floors of the tower, fire-immune areas were built as a refuge zone, a closed observation deck, a cafeteria, a public art gallery, an open observation deck, a revolving restaurant, telecommunication floors, a VIP restaurant, Mechanical floors, and a sky dome. The four-stage antenna mast is 120 m-high (390 ft). The lower floor of the mast is for the adjustment of public users’ telecommunication antennas and the three upper floors are devoted to the antenna of radio and television organisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Furthermore, the complex features a parking area of 27,000 m2 (290,000 sq ft), a large computer and telecommunications unit, a cultural and scientific unit, a commercial transaction centre, a temporary showroom for exhibiting products, a specialised library, an exhibition hall, and an administrative unit. Milad Tower has an octagonal base, symbolising traditional Persian architecture.
The client was Yadman Sazeh Co. a representative of Tehran Municipality. The tower has been designed by Dr. M.R. Hafezi and was built by Boland Payeh Co.
International Convention Centre
The centre’s main parts are 7 conference salons and an exhibition space with an area of 700 m2 (7,500 sq ft), and its other features are a lobby, a training room, two powder rooms, a radio and television studio, and reception services.
International hotel
A five-star hotel with an area of 52,000 m2 (560,000 sq ft) has been established in order to provide local and global tourists and the guests attending the conventions with accommodation and reception services.
World Trade Centre
This centre, with an area of 40,000 m2 (430,000 sq ft), has been established with different sections for national and global commercial business transactions, exhibitions for products and services, technical and scientific conventions.
