Downtown skyscrapers are symbols of wealth and power and often serve as important mixed-use buildings with offices, residences, restaurants, and other attractions. For most of the 20th century, North America was home to most of the world’s tallest and most impressive skyscrapers. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), 80 of the 100 tallest buildings in the world as of 1990 were in North America. Moreover, the United States held the distinction of having the world’s tallest building from 1885 to 1998. Examples include the Manhattan Life Building (1894), Bank of Manhattan Building (1930), Empire State Building (1931), and Sears Tower (1974).
When it was completed in 1998, the Petronas Towers in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, became the world’s tallest building at 425 meters. The rest of the world began catching up to the US in subsequent years and, by 2010, the nation was home to only 35 of the world’s 100 tallest buildings. That year, the CTBUH certified the Burj Khalifa, an 828-meter skyscraper in Dubai, as the tallest building in the world.
While the Burj Khalifa was unprecedented (it marked a 61 percent increase in height over the previous world’s tallest building), Saudi Arabia, around the same time, began planning to build an even taller skyscraper. The Jeddah Tower, previously known as the Kingdom Tower, is a planned 1,000-meter, 252-story skyscraper in the Jeddah Economic City. Construction began in 2013 but has since faced multiple delays. However, Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), the firm overseeing the project, recently announced plans to resume construction. Here are four things you need to know about the project:
1. The Project Was Delayed in 2018
Construction of the Jeddah Tower was halted in 2018, at which point the pilings and foundation, along with the first 63 floors, had been completed. In March 2018, Hisham Jomah, JEC chief development officer, announced that construction had been delayed due to technical issues with the concrete, which required the need for design alterations. At that point, the building was expected to open by 2020.
However, the Jeddah Tower faced another major hurdle later that year, when Bakr bin Laden, president of the Saudi Binladin Group (SBG), was arrested for corruption during the 2017-19 Saudi Arabian purge. SBG was the main contractor for the building. Under the direction of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, more than 200 people were detained in the anti-corruption campaign. Bin Laden spent three years in jail, although charges were not made public.
The COVID-19 pandemic further delayed construction of the Jeddah Tower, as was the case for many projects in the Middle East. The JEC has invited 14 local and international contractors to submit bids to complete the remainder of the project. It expects to sign a contract by the end of 2023.
2. The Tower Was Designed by Adrian Smith
Renowned architect Adrian Smith, of the American firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, designed the Jeddah Tower. Smith also designed the Burj Khalifa while part of the architecture studio Skidmore Owings & Merrill, while he and Gill recently designed The Central Park Tower in New York. Renderings of the finished Jeddah Tower show a glossy, glass-clad tower with fin-like indents that becomes narrower toward its peak.
“The sleek, streamlined form of the tower can be interpreted as a reference to the folded fronds of young desert plant growth,” reads the description of the design on the studio’s website. “The way the fronds sprout upward from the ground as a single form, then start separating from each other at the top, is an analogy of new growth fused with technology.”
3. The Billion-Dollar Project Is Packed with Amenities
When first announced in 2008, officials estimated the Jeddah Tower would cost about $1.3 billion, although that figure has likely increased considering the amount of delays. There’s also no concrete timeline as to when the project will be completed.
In addition to the tower being the world’s tallest, it will include the world’s highest observation deck, where visitors can take in far-reaching views of the Pearl of the Red Sea. The Jeddah Tower will also feature a Four Seasons hotel, offices, residential spaces, and shopping centers.
4. The Tower Is One of Many Giga Projects in Saudi Arabia
The Jeddah Tower is far from the only major construction project in Saudi Arabia. In line with Vision 2030, a comprehensive plan to mitigate the Kingdom’s reliance on oil and gas and modernize its society, Saudi Arabia is developing an abundance of tourism and lifestyle attractions and destinations. These include “giga projects” like the Jeddah Central Project, King Salman Park, The Red Sea Project, and Neom.
The most well-known of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious projects, Neom is a futuristic city that will cover more than 10,000 square miles and feature 10 regions, including the 100-mile-long city known as The Line, an island resort, and an octagon-shaped port city called Oxagon. Neom CEO Nadhmi al-Nasr recently said one-fifth of the project is complete.