Saudi Arabia to build kilometer-high tower: report

A skyscraper about to go under construction in Saudi Arabia will need 80,000 tons of steel and will stand at least one kilometer high upon its completion, a news report said Sunday.

According to the Saudi Gazette, the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah is designed to be over 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) tall—zooming past the current tallest building in the world, the 830-meter Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Kingdom Tower will have a total construction area of 530,000 square meters (5.7 million square feet) and is expected to cost $1.23 billion. According to Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), the firm commissioned to design the tower, it will be the centerpiece of the Kingdom City development in Jeddah.

Design

In its project description, AS+GG said that the three-sided Kingdom Tower will be slender, tapering and slightly asymmetrical, "evok[ing] a bundle of leaves shooting up from the ground" as it "heralds more growth around it."

According to the Saudi Gazette report, the mixed-use development will have 200 levels, including 160 residential floors. The tower will also house a luxury hotel, offices and the world's highest observatory, said AS+GG. On Level 157,  there will be a 30-meter-wide "sky terrace" that will be an "outdoor amenity space intended for use by the penthouse floor."

The tower will be serviced by 59 elevators, including five double-deck lifts. The elevators serving the observatory will travel in both directions at a speed of 10 meters per second.

Each of the tower's three sides will also have "notches" that will create shadows to shield parts of the building from the sun, allowing outdoor terraces to enjoy a view of the Red Sea and the city below.
 

Kingdom Tower will be constructed by the Saudi Binladin Group (SBG). According to the Huffington Post, construction is set to begin this week. — BM, GMA News