He's only 18-years-old, but already CedarBridge Academy student Che Caines is warning the architects of the tallest building in the world to watch out – because he's coming after them.

On a website 'Wowzanga', in response to an article about the 2,320 ft Burj Dubai tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Che wrote: "I just need to tell you just watch out. My building is coming in 2020 and its three times taller than the Burj Dubai…Put it this way, your building can literally fit into mine."

He wrote that back when he was 15-years-old, but when The Royal Gazette caught up with him last Monday at CedarBridge his ambitions hadn't humbled.

"My goal is to be a commercial architect," Che told The Royal Gazette. "I want to revolutionise the buildings of the world. I want to build the tallest skyscraper in the world."

But currently, he is working on something a little smaller – a model of a five-bedroom house complete with architectural plans.

The house and plans are a joint project between Che's carpentry and graphics design classes.

"I am here doing this on lunch times, after school and in all of my free time," said Che. "I go out with my friends on weekends, but I think about this project all the time when I am at home."

His model home is the sort of place most people could only dream of owning.

In addition to all the rooms, it has a separate two car garage, a gym and a dome, among other things.

Most of the materials come from the school and some came from his father, Ricky, a foreman for a construction company.

"I like the views that the house would have," said Che. "The front would be all glass. It has three different heating units.

"It is just meant for one family. The model is made of balsa wood. I sprayed a texturising spray over it, and when I am finished building I will paint it."

He has the architectural plans to go with the house which he put together using a number of programmes downloaded from the Internet including Sketchup and AutoCAD, a programme used by real architects.

"I have been designing houses for about five years now," said Che. "It started off as a small hobby. I learned to do it by myself, just playing around."

One of the things that inspired him, was a popular computer game called SimHouse which allows players to design their own homes, families and pets. Pretty soon, building a house on the computer screen wasn't enough.

When he isn't working on his house, he is reading books and scanning the Internet to keep abreast of all the exciting architectural developments happening in the world. He is particularly interested in Dubai which is one of the world's hot spots for architectural development.

"The tallest building in the world is in Dubai," he said. "You couldn't really have a skyscraper in Bermuda because of the type of ground we have. Also, to build upwards you have to build a bigger and bigger platform at the bottom."

He said he really admired architect Tom Wills-Wright who built the Burj Al Arab Hotel, also in Dubai. It is the tallest hotel in the world.

"The building is shaped like a sailboat," he said. "One whole wall is made of high resistance canvas which can adapt to the wind. The rest is glass. It sits on a man-made island. If you look at it from a distance it looks like a huge sailboat in the water."

The Burj Al Arab stands at 1,053 ft but it may soon be topped by the Rose Tower, also in Dubai.

"My favourite style of architecture is modern," said Che, a recent recipient of the Talented Teen Award in Bermuda. "I like all glass and high-tech. In order to pursue my dreams, I think I will have to go abroad."

He said if he designed a building for the City of Hamilton, it would look quite different from the buildings currently going up.

"I think Hamilton is changing a lot," he said. "There is a whole lot of new stuff that is going up. Now it is a mix-match between old and new styles. If I designed a building for Front Street it wouldn't look like the buildings going up; it would be modern."

But he said he would also incorporate "a little bit of old" into the design to go along with Bermuda's traditional architecture.

"Bermuda is getting very crowded," he said. "We might need to go up a little higher than we are now. We need to go higher, and more on the green side. We need to build energy efficient buildings that don't take up as much electricity, and maybe set up some solar powered wind turbines. We need to start stepping up to the green side."

Che's talent and enthusiasm recently caught the attention of architectural firm, Cooper & Gardner.

"They helped me a lot," said Che. "I had a meeting with them the other day and they gave me some good advice. They told me to stay focused and they would give me a couple of projects."

Not only is he a budding architect, but he is also a talented artist. He received a gold star for his art in his General Certificate of Secondary School Education (GCSE) examinations.

When we spoke with him he was getting ready to show some of his art alongside Manuel Palacio at an upcoming artshow at Masterworks Art Gallery.

Che plans to sell one of his paintings for $5,000, and he has already sold a painting for $2,000.

"Mr. Palacio has been a big influence on my art," said Che. "My art teacher here at CedarBridge Academy, Tona Landy, has also helped me. I would really like to thank them both."

As he is in his last year at CedarBridge Academy, Che is in the process of applying for colleges.

"I am thinking about going to the Savannah College of Art & Design in Savannah, Georgia, or Kingston University in London, England," he said.

Che is the son of Ricky and Verlina Caines, and went to Spice Valley Middle School before entering CedarBridge Academy.

Like a lot of talented teenagers, he sometimes finds it hard to talk to others about his work. "I talk to the professionals," said Che. "I try to chat about it to my friends, but they don't really understand."