World’s tallest tower planned for Jeddah

5,280ft high tower to act as anchor for 8,9 sq. mile development in Saudi Arabia

The revered Burj Khalifa by Skidmore Owings and Merrill is soon to be overshadowed as news comes that plans submitted by Kingdom Holding Company for a 5,280ft high tower in Jeddah have been approved. Newswire Windsor Genova has reported that the “Kingdom Tower” project was given the green light last month, and named Adrian Smith af Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill as the architect for the scheme.

In a unconventional move, Kingdom Holding Company has planned to design and construct the record-breaking tower before encircling it in a commercial and residential development, creating a “city within a city” on the outskirts of Jeddah. Omrania&Associates with HOK have been selected to draw up the Masterplan, comprising  residential units, retail space, office blocks, a beach resort, hotels and an educational institution.

In terms of scale, it is estimated that a lift journey to the uppermost level of this 275-floor structure will take 12 minutes, with the Burj Khalifa’s 828m shrinking in the wake of the Kingdom Tower’s 1,609m height. Similarly, the highly celebrated Kingkey Tower in Shenzhen is only destined to reach 441m, while Guangzhou’s Canton Tower stands at 610m high. Should this lofty new building been seen through to realization, it will overshadow every other “tall” tower in the world and push the boundaries of architectural design in a way many never thought possible.
Via worldarchitecturenews