The world’s tallest commercial tower – the Burj 2020 in Dubai – is to be designed by Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS + GG). It will feature a 360-degree observation deck, which will become the highest on the planet.

WATG has also been appointed to create the masterplan for the surrounding Burj 2020 district, which will encompass around 1,300,000sq m (13,993,084sq ft) of commercial, retail and hotel space.

Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), the master developer of Dubai’s Jumeirah Lakes Towers district, announced the appointments of both architects, citing their “wealth of global destination and tower design expertise”.

Architect Adrian Smith, founder of AS + GG, previously designed Dubai’s Burj Khalifa tower while at Skidmore Owings + Merrill (SOM). AS + GG has designed the 1km-high Kingdom Tower, currently under construction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which will take the mantle of “world’s tallest” when it opens in 2019.

“Designing a world-class destination of this scale will set new levels of efficiency and urban sustainability and we are confident that our partners, in delivering the Burj 2020 district and tower, will create a new address for the global business community of the future, right here in Dubai,” said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman of DMCC.

The exact height of the Burj 2020 tower has yet to be revealed. Construction is scheduled to start in 2015, with completion before 2020, the year in which Dubai hosts the World Expo.