'Work underway at world's tallest building' in Jeddah
JEDDAH, August 7, 2024
Work is currently underway on the Jeddah Tower (previously the Kingdom Tower) in Saudi Arabia, one of the most ambitious construction projects in human history, reported Newsweek, citing new satellite imagery.
The massive skyscraper project is being developed by Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), a joint venture between Kingdom Holding Company, of which it holds a substantial interest, Abrar Holding Company, Qila’a Jeddah Company, and Saudi Binladin Group.
The building was designed by architect Adrian Smith, who also designed the current tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, as well as the Trump Tower in Chicago.
Construction on the Jeddah Tower began in 2009, before it was paused in 2018 due to the purges in Saudi Arabia, which impacted contractors working on the site, said the report.
Now new satellite imagery provided to Newsweek shows that work is progressing well with parts of the tower being assembled at the construction site, including the tripod-style base, centered about 20km away from the Jeddah city port.
Standing tall at about 3,300 ft high, the Jeddah Tower will become the tallest building in the world, beating out the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which stands at 2,722 ft.
At the top, the tower would boast the highest observation deck in the world, reached by a system of 59 elevators.
The design is so tall that no elevator is able to run from the highest occupied floor to the bottom, because the cables would be too heavy and potentially unsafe, said the Newsweek report.
Kone, a global leader in elevators and escalators, will deliver the world’s fastest and highest double-decker elevators to the skyscraper.
The tower will be equipped with a total of 65 Kone elevators and escalators including 21 Kone MonoSpace elevators, 29 Kone MiniSpace elevators, seven Kone DoubleDeck MiniSpace elevators and eight Kone TravelMaster 110 escalators, reported Gulf Construction.
The Kone DoubleDeck MiniSpace elevators will utilise what is described as “revolutionary” Kone UltraRope hoisting technology.
Seven of the tower’s 170 storeys will be allocated for the five-star Four Seasons hotel offering 200 rooms, 11 storeys for 121 luxury serviced apartments, and seven storeys for offices. It will also have 61 storeys that include 318 housing units of various types, along with amenities that include gyms, spas, cafes and restaurants, two sky lobbies and the world’s highest observation decks, located at a height of 644 m, enabling visitors to view the city of Jeddah and the Red Sea from high in the sky.
A further double-height eight full refuge floors that are fire resistant will be allocated throughout the tower.
The skyscraper will feature a sky terrace – roughly 30 m in diameter – at level 157, which will be an outdoor amenity space intended for use by the penthouse floor.
The Tower’s Observatory Deck; A steel and concrete palm shows a breath taking view of the city around and the Red Sea, introducing an inspirational sight as far as the eye can see.
According to other news reports, construction on Jeddah Tower faced interruptions in 2018 due to developments within the Binladin Group, the project's contractor. The Covid-19 pandemic further delayed progress. However, in September 2023, reports surfaced that construction had resumed.
At the time of its pause, about a third of Jeddah Tower had been completed. Once finished, it will stand at a towering height of 3,281 ft, surpassing the Burj Khalifa by approximately 564 ft.
Functionally, Jeddah Tower will serve as a mixed-use complex, incorporating residential, commercial, and office spaces. Additionally, plans include an observation deck, set to become the world's tallest, a Four Seasons hotel, and a sprawling outdoor balcony originally designed as a helipad.
