Saudi Arabia plans to make World’s tallest tower surpassing Burj Khalifa
What comes to your mighty brain when someone asks you ‘Which is the tallest building on the planet?’ Is it Burj Khalifa, Dubai’s iconic mega-tall skyscraper? Well, you would stand correct for now, but soon enough it will lose its status as the world’s tallest building with neighbouring Saudi Arabia planning to construct the Jeddah Tower, that will be even taller of more than a Km.
Saudi Arabia recently announced that it would move forward with plans to build the world’s tallest building, a move that would see the Gulf state surpass neighboring Dubai. The Kingdom Tower(As they call it!) is being constructed in Jeddah, a port city on the Red Sea. The city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia has confirmed its place in modern history, as it will become the home to the next world’s tallest building.
11 Unique facts about Kingdom Tower of Jeddah
- At 3,280 feet, the 170-storey building will be surpassing Dubai’s Burj Khalifa which is 2,722 feet high.
- It is designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, an architecture firm and design firm based in Chicago who are renowned for their works like Dancing Dragons , Wave Tower and Greenland Tower. Adrian Smith was also one of the architects behind the construction of Burj Khalifa.
- The 170-floor Kingdom Tower will be part of a reported $8.4 billion project to construct Jeddah City. Currently under construction, the $1.23 billion supertall Kingdom Tower will become the world’s tallest building upon its completion in 2019.
- The Kingdom Tower is led by Saudi Prince Al- Waleed bin talal who is also the wealthiest man in the Middle East. Prince Al- Waleed is also the chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) which is currently the largest company in Saudi Arabia.This company is also in partnership with the Jeddah Economic Company.The company was constructed in 2009 for the development of Kingdom City and Tower.
- It will consist of a luxury hotel, office space, apartments, luxury condominiums and an observatory. The separate dedicated elevator, which will serve the world’s highest observatory in the Kingdom Tower, is designed to travel at an astonishing rate of 10 meters (40 feet) per second in both directions
- Kingdom Tower will also consist of 59 elevators, including 54 single-deck and five double-deck elevators and 12 escalators.
- Construction of the skyscraper will entail 5.7 million square feet of concrete and 80,000 tons of steel.
- The foundation piles are about as large as a small room at 10 feet in diameter, and can reach up to 360 feet in length.
- It has high-tech features. A high-performance exterior wall system, including low-conductivity glass, will minimize energy consumption by reducing thermal loads.
- The Kingdom Tower will be so big that it will not be possible to even see a complete view of it in one rendering through naked eye.
- The Temperature at the top floor of the Kingdom Tower will be half of that of Temperature at the ground floor of the Kingdom Tower.
The Kingdom Tower will provide to be a great showcase of Engineering and Architectural skills. Saudi Arabia isn’t all about restrictions but its about expanding their horizons to new possibilities and new heights, well explained by the Kingdom Tower to the World!