If standing on the 163th floor of the famous Burj Khalifa thrills you, then be prepared to touch the clouds as Saudi Arabia is pacing towards completing the new tallest tower/building in the world.
Preparing to dethrone the Dubai skyscraper from its current "tallest building" title, architects in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah are pacing towards completing the Jeddah Tower. The monument has already soared a kilometre into the sky and could soon strip Burj Khalifa of its record.
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While it will take some time for the 236 feet (72 meters) monument to come up, as reported by CNN, Construction Weekly Online shared an update on the construction with a few pictures from the site. The tower, previously dubbed as the Kingdom tower, has completed about 26 floors with the height measuring to 3,280-feet (1 kilometer).
Architectural aspects:
The soon-to-be tallest building in the world is said to overlook the Red Sea. The building is reportedly designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the design architects for the project.
Considering the distance to the sea, one main concern remains the sea breeze. Keeping in this mind, Bart Leclercq, head of structures for WSP Middle East, told Construction Weekly Online on the design of the tower and shared insights.
"The shape of the building is quite stiff in itself – it's the same footprint as Burj Khalifa. The taper reduces the wind load at the top. Because it changes shape every few floors, the wind loads go round the building and won't be as extreme as on a really solid block. There will be local disturbances, so it's a really good design from an aerodynamic perspective."
Amenities:
CNN reports that the tower will have homes, hotels and offices, as well as tourist attractions. The property will also house the world's highest observation deck at 2,178 feet (664 meters) above the ground level that will feature a 5,382 square feet (500 square meter) outdoor platform.
It will also include a five-star Four Seasons Hotel, 97 affiliated serviced apartments (of which seven will be duplexes), elevators reaching record height of 2,165 feet (660 meters), double-decker lifts taking visitors directly to the observation deck from Level 1 of the building at the speed of 12.5 miles per hour.
Total number of floors:
As of now, it is being reported that the tower will have 252 stories when compared to Burj Khalifa's 163 floors.
Cost of project:
The estimated cost of the Jeddah Tower is reportedly $1.4 billion.
Date of completion:
The Tower is expected to open doors by 2020.
While the construction site is currently surrounded by desert, the skyscraper completion will help boost the economy of Jeddah and give a facelift to Jeddah city. "As of 2020, we'll start seeing things: you'll see the tower, you'll see the shopping mall, you'll see many other projects," Mounib Hammoud, CEO of Jeddah Economic Company told CNN.
"We are creating an independent city ... so that you don't have to leave here," he adds. "It's changing the mindset of Jeddah."
This video helps understand the current status of the tower's construction:
