Here is a tale of an interesting dispute that is arising between two groups that were involved in the construction of the Burj Khalifa. First a bit of background: For years, Adrian Smith was one of the most senior architects at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in Chicago - having served as the chief executive at one point and the designer of many of the company's prestigious contracts. He was the architect in charge of design for the Burj Dubai, which was eventually renamed the Burj Khalifa. But in 2006, he left the company to start his own firm with Gordon Gill - called, rather simply, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill. Fast forward to Jan 4, 2010 - the inauguration of the Burj Khalifa - and you'll find these two groups are barely on speaking terms. SOM and Adrian Smith's firms are fierce competitors in the small world of extremely lucrative super tall building design and engineering. Mr Smith said in an interview last week that SOM refuses to give him credit for the work he did on the Burj Khalifa, which he claims was the entire design of the building. SOM, on the other hand, has confidently taken credit for the project and received wide media attention around the world. "Because I am in competition with them, they won't say that I designed this building or six other buildings I did while I was there," Mr Smith said. "They don't want to give me any credibility in terms of being my competitor." At the opening ceremonies of the tower, the two groups could hardly be in the same room. "It was awkward," he said. "I'm having a dispute with them." It would seem like there isn't room in Chicago for two high concept architectural firms. Mr Smith said he had poached some of SOM's best talents, including the former chief technical director of the Burj Khalifa, he said. "There's been quite an exodus over the years from SOM." Now, both SOM and Adrian Smith are vying for the Kingdom Tower project in Riyadh, which if built, would rise higher than the Burj Khalifa. We'll see how the battle plays out, but I imagine a bit of emotion could actually help fuel the design process.