At a height of one kilometre, the Kingdom Tower skyscraper will be the tallest building ever constructed. The 170-storey tower is due to be completed in 2020. Located in Jeddah, the economic capital of Saudi Arabia, this extraordinary real estate project was launched by Prince Al-Walid Ben Talal's holding company.
The Saudi billionaire's aim is to create a unique experience for visitors and residents alike, while enabling a multitude of economic activities.
Following a new financial agreement worth over 2 billion dollars, the completion of this architectural behemoth is guaranteed, even if there have been delays. The building is currently 26 storeys high, whereas the original plan was for it to be around 90.
Designed to house a hotel, flats, offices and the highest observatory in the world, the tower will have to rise to over 1,000 metres, surpassing the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, which holds the record at 828 metres. To serve the 170 floors of the Kingdom Tower, no fewer than 59 lifts are planned, which will have a top speed of 36 km/h.
A building of this scale involves a huge number of difficulties to overcome, not least those associated with wind and temperature variations. The building's foundations are 60 metres deep in salt-water-laden soil.
Initially, the tower was to be called the Mile-High Tower, as its height was to be similar to an international mile, i.e. 1,600 metres! However, geological constraints meant that the original ambitions had to be scaled back.
Kingdom Tower observatory overlooking the Red Sea.
With a height of 1,001 metres, the Kingdom Tower will be more than three times taller than the Eiffel Tower.
