Burj Khalifa, better known as world’s tallest building will soon be replaced by the Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom tower, once completed will be 568 feet taller than Khalifa Tower, the current Guinness World Record holder in neighboring Dubai.
The Kindgom Tower is the first phase of Jeddah Economic Company’s approximately $20 billion, 17 million square foot Kingdom City project. The kingdom tower will be the focal point of the city project. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a nephew of Saudi King Abdullah, is chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company, a partner in JEC.
“Our vision for Kingdom Tower is one that represents the new spirit of Saudi Arabia,” Adrian Smith, cofounder of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the firm that designed the tower, said in a press release. “This tower symbolizes the Kingdom as an important global business and cultural leader, and demonstrates the strength and creative vision of its people.”
Above ground construction work of $1.2 billion skyscraper work will start on April 27 and a total of 200 floors will be built. The tower will be located in Jeddah, a culturally significant city near the Red Sea that is known as the gateway to Mecca. The foundation work of the project was started in December 2013.
According to the Saudi Gazette, Kingdom tower is designed to be over 1,000 meters tall (3,280 feet), encompassing a total construction area of 530,000 square meters (5.7 million square feet). The building will have 200 floors in total, 160 of which are habitable.
The mega project will require about half a million cubic meters of concrete and around 80,000 tons of steel. The project will adhere to the highest quality standards and to meet all the standards, a 100 expert fully-equipped site laboratory will be installed by ACTS to carry the day-to-day quality control operations. The company will also provide specialized testing services from its laboratory facility in Briman area in Jeddah, which is one of the largest testing facilities in the Middle East.
Have a look at some of the design photographs of the Mega SkyScrapper.
image credits: mashable.com