The Burj Khalifa was designed by American architect Adrian Smith while at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Adrian Smith served as the lead architect for the Burj Khalifa during his tenure as a principal at Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). He later left SOM to form his own firm, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, which went on to design the under-construction Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia — the projected next world's tallest building.