01 December 2011

CONSTRUCTION of the kilometre-long Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is scheduled to start next month (January), according to the architect on the project.

Most of the permits are in place for the tower, Adrian S??mith, a partner in Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture was quoted as saying by The National, a UAE newspaper, adding his firm had advanced the design 'to a high level of detail'.

The tower is being built at a cost of $1.2 billion by the Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), an affiliate of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company (KHC). On completion, it will become the tallest building in the world, surpassing Dubai’s 828-m Burj Khalifa.

The tower is the centrepiece of Kingdom City, a $20-billion commercial and residential project covering 5.3 million sq m outside Jeddah. It will house residential, office and retail space, in addition to a Four Seasons hotel.

Kingdom Tower was one of several super-tall projects that stalled after the global financial downturn, but in August, KHC hired Saudi Binladin Group to build the tower, nearly four years after its inception. But even after the appointment of the main contractor, some analysts had remained sceptical the tower would move forward.

Smith said the tower includes a single, 2,787-sq-m apartment that will start on the 158th floor and cover six levels, making it the highest residence in the world. The apartment will sit above a 25-m-wide sky terrace, a platform that will extend out from the 157th floor of the building.

The designers still do not know exactly how the terrace will be used. The terrace was originally designed as a helipad, but pilots vetoed that idea because of safety concerns.

Smith was the lead designer with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the tallest building in the world.

Kingdom Holding has not disclosed the exact height of the tower except that it will be more than 1,000 m.

Four floors that were recently added to the design of the base of the spire that sits at the top of the building will be used to house ‘boutique’ offices.

Kingdom Tower will also have more balconies than the Burj Khalifa.

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