Try keeping 140 floors comfortable in a city where summer temperatures routinely push past 45 degrees Celsius. That’s the challenge now facing Daikin, which has secured an extended contract to design and deliver the complete climate control infrastructure for Burj Azizi, the tower set to become the world’s second-tallest building when it opens in 2029.
The scale is staggering.
Azizi Developments announced the expanded partnership on Monday, confirming that Daikin will supply integrated heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems across the tower’s residential apartments, seven-star hotel, retail mall, and entertainment venues. The deal encompasses fan coil units, fresh air handling units, DX systems, and industrial chillers—each component sourced from different continents and engineered specifically for extreme high-rise environments.
For a building this tall, conventional cooling won’t cut it. The 725-metre structure demands precision engineering to balance airflow, humidity control, and energy efficiency across vastly different functions. Hotel suites require different climate parameters than luxury penthouses. Retail zones generate more heat than residential corridors. And at level 126, where the world’s highest nightclub will operate, the density of bodies and lighting creates thermal loads that must be anticipated years in advance.
Daikin’s solution draws on a multinational supply chain: fan coil units manufactured in China, industrial chillers from Italy, fresh air handling units assembled in the UAE, and DX units produced across facilities in India and Thailand. Each component must meet international standards whilst integrating seamlessly into a single, centrally managed system.
The partnership isn’t new. Daikin has worked across Azizi’s portfolio before, though nothing quite matches the complexity of Burj Azizi. Mr. Farhad Azizi, Group CEO of Azizi Group, framed the decision in terms of reliability over three decades. “We are delighted to extend our collaboration with Daikin, a globally renowned HVAC solutions provider and valued supplier. At Burj Azizi, high-performance cooling is essential to ensuring comfort and long-term operational reliability – critical for a development of this scale and complexity. With Daikin’s proven engineering capabilities and international manufacturing expertise, we are further strengthening our commitment to delivering future-ready infrastructure that enhances the experience of residents, guests, and visitors alike.”
What exactly are residents and guests walking into?
Burj Azizi isn’t just tall—it’s a self-contained vertical ecosystem. The lower levels house an ultra-luxury mall featuring high-end fashion brands. Above that, residential floors offer one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, each cluster of 20 floors served by a dedicated amenity level. Those amenity zones aren’t minimal: think swimming pools with sauna and steam facilities, fully equipped gyms, yoga studios, spas, games rooms with billiards and table tennis, business centres, children’s play areas, cinemas, restaurants, coffee shops, and supermarkets.
Then come the penthouses. Ranging from one to five bedrooms, these units occupy their own separate lobby and enjoy exclusive access to every amenity below. Above them, the architecture shifts again.
The seven-star hotel begins where most buildings end. Designed around seven cultural themes—Arabic, Chinese, Persian, Indian, Turkish, French, and Russian—the all-suite property will feature culturally styled restaurants reflecting each tradition. An authentic Emirati restaurant anchors the offering, supported by a grand ballroom and a beach club that, given the tower’s inland location, will rely heavily on atmosphere and design rather than proximity to surf.
Burj Azizi will claim five world records when completed. The highest observation deck sits on level 130. The highest hotel lobby occupies level 111. Level 126 hosts the highest nightclub, whilst level 122 holds the highest restaurant. The highest hotel room reaches level 118. At the summit, a museum will document the tower’s construction through multimedia exhibits—photos, videos, and graphics charting the evolution of the structure and profiling the personalities behind it.
That’s a lot of space to keep cool.
By 2029, when the first residents move in and the hotel opens its doors, Daikin’s systems will need to perform flawlessly. There’s no room for trial and error at that height. Equipment failures in a building this tall don’t just inconvenience occupants—they threaten operational viability and reputational credibility in a market where luxury towers are measured against impossible standards.
Azizi Developments has staked considerable ambition on the project. The firm has delivered more than 45,000 homes to buyers from over 100 nationalities and currently has around 150,000 units under construction, valued in the tens of billions of dollars. Burj Azizi represents the apex of that portfolio, a statement project designed to push boundaries and redefine what mixed-use high-rise development looks like in the Gulf.
The clock is already running. With just over three years until scheduled completion, installation timelines are tight. Chillers and air-handling units for a building this size aren’t assembled overnight, and commissioning at altitude introduces logistical complications that ground-level projects never face.
Whether the systems can deliver the promised comfort across such varied uses—and whether they can do so efficiently in one of the planet’s harshest urban climates—will become clear soon enough. For now, the partnership signals confidence. Daikin’s international footprint and technical pedigree offer reassurance, whilst Azizi’s track record suggests this isn’t a developer prone to cutting corners.
The sales gallery, located on the 13th floor of the Conrad Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road, remains open for prospective buyers willing to bet on the vision. By the time those buyers take possession, the invisible infrastructure keeping their apartments cool will already be working around the clock, 700 metres above the desert floor.